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Sustainability
Our sustainable approach as a Company
Founded in 1922, the Schneider Group is the most trusted source for responsibly and beautifully made precious wool and other animal fibre tops.
The Schneider Group is a company with a unique integrated certified global network. We are a fully vertically integrated supplier of animal fibres and tops, on a global scale, having our own local sourcing and production sites across continents.
Sustainability is the Group’s strategic priority and part of our DNA. This sustainable strategy is based on actively and continuously reducing our impact. It follows the Sustainable Development Goals for textiles and is especially committed to improving water and energy savings in industrial production by reducing as much as possible the quantity of water used, electricity and natural gas consumption, CO2 emissions, and using exclusively GOTS certified auxiliary materials.
Following these guidelines, Pettinatura di Verrone, the Group’s Italian mill, has installed a new high-efficiency cogeneration plant powered by natural gas for the combined coverage of 95% of its electricity and thermal energy needs, recovering energy also from exhaust steam and engine cooling. Thanks to the high efficiency and energy savings achieved during 2022, Pettinatura di Verrone has been awarded TEEs (Energy Efficiency Certificates).
Other significant investments in building thermal and conditioning insulation, solar panels, heating pumps and energy optimisation software are scheduled in the mills belonging to the Group. Moreover, the Schneider Group uses world-class water treatment plants alongside its factories, often maintaining even higher standards than those required by law, to ensure the utmost cleanliness of wastewater which contains mainly soil and vegetables. We use exclusively GOTS detergents and chemicals, which are natural and biodegradable. This allows the waste muds to find a new application in agriculture.
Since 2018, we have regularly evaluated the environmental footprint of our industrial processes, products and auxiliaries through the Life Cycle Assessment, to ensure proper monitoring and reduction of our impact, year after year, guaranteeing continuous improvement.
We resolutely believe in responsible, ethical and high-quality standards of sourcing and processing across our entire global certified network. The Schneider Group’s mills are RWS and GOTS certified for wool and SFA certified for cashmere standards. This means their management systems and procedures are audited on a yearly basis to verify their compliance and chain of custody.