Canopy Releases Viscose Producer Progress on Deforestation-Free Supply Chains

As part of its CanopyStyle initiative, environmental NGO Canopy has released an updated and expanded edition of its Hot Button Report, a ranking of eleven viscose and rayon producers that represent 70 percent of global viscose production.

The report is the first tool of its kind to enable fashion brands and retailers to robustly assess producers' impacts on the world's forests, as well as their leadership in forging solutions to eliminate endangered forest fiber from the rayon and viscose supply chain. It has become a 'go-to' resource for brands since its first publication in 2016.

"We've seen remarkable progress with CanopyStyle over the past four years as a result of the collective action of our brand partners," said Nicole Rycroft, founder and Executive Director of Canopy. 'In the upcoming year, CanopyStyle brands and designers are looking for additional leadership from their rayon and viscose suppliers. Initiating the CanopyStyle Audits, advocating for conservation and advancing the development and production of next generation solutions are all key performance areas for producers striving to meet their customers' expectations.'

The updated report includes five new criteria that assess supply chain innovation and highlight partners that are emphasizing transparency and driving circular economy and next-generation fabric solutions forward.

Two major producers, Birla Cellulose and Lenzing, which represent 25 percent of global supply, have reached "light green shirt" ranking as a result of their robust forest-sourcing policies, third-party verification audits and alternative fibers. The report also revealed that three Chinese producers — Sateri, Sanyou and Fulida — are currently executing CanopyStyle Audits, with results anticipated to be made public in late Fall 2017. A further three producers have made progress on transparency by listing their pulp suppliers publicly on their websites and viscose producer ENKA has recently joined the initiative, adopting and initiating the audit.

Two producers — Jiangsu Xiangsheng Viscose Fiber Co., Ltd. and Aoyang Technology — continue to sit with "red shirts" and remain unresponsive.

The 2017 edition of the Hot Button Report will be followed by the release of several more CanopyStyle Audits of viscose producers, as well as additional implementation tools for CanopyStyle brands. Canopy and its over 750 brand partners across all forest sectors are committed to catalyzing commercial scale production of sustainable papers, packaging and fabrics and the kind of supply chain transformation that will see meaningful protection of the world's ancient and endangered forests.