Namoi Cotton, Australia’s largest cotton processing organisation, has today released their first Sustainability Report – outlining key indicators and targets for the organisation’s Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) footprint.
The report outlines the baseline performance of 10 key ESG indicators, including: emissions; energy management; waste management; diversity and inclusion; social supply chain management; and community relations.
Namoi Cotton Chief Executive Officer, John Stevenson noted that while this was the first report for the company, Namoi Cotton has been practicing aspects of sustainability best-practice for many years.
“Sustainability means ensuring Australian Cotton meets consumer needs without compromising people or the planet. While we have been working to incorporate a sustainability best-practice approach into our business for a long time, we recognise that now is the time to formalise our sustainability strategy,” Mr Stevenson said.
The report was developed in reference to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards and is aligned with the Australian Cotton Industry’s Planet.People.Paddock. Framework, which recognises sustainability is integral to the industry’s future.
“Many of the sustainability challenges facing the Australian Cotton Industry are far bigger than Namoi Cotton, which is why we are looking at ways to collaborate with the broader industry to increase our collective impact and support the industry in becoming global leaders in sustainable cotton production.” Mr Stevenson said.
Cotton Australia Chief Executive Officer, Adam Kay said the report was a great example of how the Australian Cotton Industry is working together to demonstrate a commitment to sustainability.
“Under the Australian Cotton Industry’s Planet.People.Paddock. Framework we have set ambitious industry-wide targets. It is encouraging to see Namoi Cotton build on this Framework to develop a process to identify, assess, measure, and set targets for ESG issues.” Mr Kay said.
Embedding sustainability into organisational culture
A major achievement outlined in the report relates to social sustainability performance and safety. In the past 12 months Namoi Cotton has almost halved their Long-Term Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR), an achievement CEO John Stevenson directly attributes to fostering a ‘safety culture’ in the organisation.
“Over the past few years Namoi Cotton has worked to build a strong safety culture from our Board right down to the front line. My vision is to leverage this proactive culture to embed our commitment to sustainability and delivering better outcomes.” Mr Stevenson said.
The Namoi Cotton inaugural sustainability report builds upon years of sustainability-related disclosure integrated within our annual reporting. Namoi Cotton is committed to transparency and will regularly report on sustainability-related impacts and progress towards achieving the set targets.
Read the 2023 Sustainability Report
Case study – Sustainability and Traceability in action: FibreTrace
Namoi Cotton and Sundown Pastoral Company are partners in the Wathagar Ginning Company.
Using FibreTrace®, a physical tracer connected to a blockchain-based traceability platform, Sundown Pastoral company’s goal was to enable the traceability of their cotton lint bales to provide honest ESG requirements for their Good Earth Cotton® brand to the downstream supply chain.
Both companies recognised the need for greater transparency in the cotton supply chain to provide customers with greater visibility into the origin and journey of their cotton products.
The cotton supply chain is complex, with multiple stakeholders involved in the production, processing, and transportation of cotton. This complexity makes it difficult to track the origin and journey of cotton from farm to finished product.
Issues with compliance and risk management for the downstream supply chain, along with consumer trust and damage to brand reputation, are all challenges for stakeholders.
To address these challenges, Sundown Pastoral Company, The Wathagar Gin and Namoi Cotton became Australian early adopters of the FibreTrace® technology – allowing the end-user to scan the final product to track and receive full visibility of the finished product through to reuse and recycle.
HOW IT WORKS
The FibreTrace® research team worked alongside the Wathagar Gin team to develop a machine that blends the FibreTrace® patented tracer fibre into each cotton bale at a blending rate of less than 0.01% (an average cotton bale weighs 227kg). This process introduces a unique, traceable signature into each bale of cotton and enables information tracing from the origins of the cotton, the date it is ginned, GPS location, the compliance officers’ identification, and its journey through the supply chain.
After this innovative process, Sundown Pastoral Company is responsible for selling the bales, coordinating the mills, and negotiating the retail cost with customers. The FibreTrace® technology has allowed customers to track each bale of cotton as it moves from the farm to the gin and beyond.
This joint venture between The Wathagar Ginning Company and Sundown Pastoral Company using FibreTrace® has been successful and has the potential to be used to improve transparency and traceability in the supply chain for all Namoi Cotton affiliated growers.