Responsibility Environment
Protecting what brings us together
People are at the heart of everything we do. Because the environment is the shared foundation of our lives, we see it as our responsibility to protect it and to use its resources with care. Responsibility is a shared effort. Every individual contribution matters, and so does our role as a company within society.
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Environmental and climate data: the foundation of our actions
OLYMP takes its responsibility for climate protection seriously. The development of our climate strategy and reduction targets is based on the continuous monitoring of our energy use and CO2 emissions. The full 2024 carbon footprint covers our own operations (Scope 1), purchased energy (Scope 2), and the entire value chain (Scope 3). Our current focus is on reducing greenhouse gas emissions directly generated by OLYMP. At our Bietigheim-Bissingen site, we place great importance on operational environmental and climate protection and actively advance energy efficiency in line with ISO 50001 standards.
Environmental milestones and highlights from 2024:
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100%
renewable electricity at the Bietigheim-Bissingen site through certified renewable sources -
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-10%
CO2e compared to the year before -
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90%
renewable electricity in our stores -
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25 team members
involved as "Greenfluencers" in operational climate and environmental protection as well as further sustainability improvements -
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You can find all our emissions data for scopes 1-3 in our sustainability report.
Selected climate protection measures: increasing efficiency, reducing emissions
OLYMP’s climate protection measures focus first and foremost on reducing emissions. At our Bietigheim-Bissingen site, we have been using a photovoltaic system since 2013, making a clear commitment to renewable energy. Additional electricity demand is covered by our combined heat and power plant as well as certified green electricity. In future, we plan to use a heat pump to further increase our energy efficiency. Once again, it is people who drive our environmental efforts forward. Since 2014, a cross-departmental working group of team members, the "Greenfluencers", has been actively shaping the further development of more environmentally friendly processes at the OLYMP site.
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Raw material strategy and product development: from people for people
Consumers are increasingly looking for products with more sustainable qualities. OLYMP meets these expectations through its choice of materials and product development, while also ensuring transparent communication. Relevant features are clearly identified directly on the garment through consumer-friendly certification labels. Through this, we make our understanding of responsibility tangible: ecological considerations in materials, development and production are an integral part of our high quality standards.
As an innovative flagship project, we introduced the fully Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certified capsule collections "Boris Herrmann x OLYMP" in 2024. Working together with the professional sailor and environmental and climate advocate, we addressed key challenges in product design form an ecological perspective and translated these insights into further successful design ideas for our product portfolio. The products are made from 100% organic cotton or 100% organic linen.
Boris Herrmann is an important partner, contributing his expertise and commitment. With his dedication to protecting the environment and the climate, he is the ideal ambassador for our responsibility and will continue to fulfill this role in the years to come.
"We want to show that natural materials and more sustainable production do not compromise performance."
Boris Herrmann, Environmental and Climate Activist and Responsibility Ambassador for OLYMP
Here you can find explanations of the product standards and the cellulose-based branded fibres identified on the garment:
Chemical management: safety for all
OLYMP also takes responsibility in its collaboration with production partners. For this reason, we require binding and ongoing disclosure from our partners regarding chemical use and environmental standards. To ensure the highest level of safety, we systematically record which substances are used in our garments across all countries of production. This process is based on international frameworks such as the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) programme and the Manufacturing Restricted Substances List (MRSL). Our OLYMP Restricted Substances List (RSL) sets our all chemicals considered particularly critical, which are either completely prohibited or permitted only under defined restrictions.
Production, to the point
At OLYMP, waste reduction begins with how we manage production. With four fashion collections and two Never Out of Stock (NOS) programmes each year, we operate on a solid and well-planned product range structure. For trend-driven seasonal items, industry-standard pre-order cycles help us avoid overproduction. When processing returns, we inspect returned items in-house, repair products where necessary, and return them to stock. We see waste reduction as a key building block of a circular economy. In 2024, we transitioned most of our product packaging to mono-materials and had their recyclability assessed by the external service provider CYCLOS.
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