ASICS PARTNERS WITH BLUESIGN TECHNOLOGIES TO STRENGTHEN CHEMICAL MANAGEMENT

ASICS is announcing a strategic partnership with the Swiss bluesign technologies as the first Japanese brand to accelerate the use of sustainable materials and chemicals in its products.

This strategic partnership enables ASICS to utilize bluesign’ industry-leading assessment tools for chemical management throughout its supply chain. The bluesign system, a solution for sustainable textile production adopted by more than 500 leading companies worldwide, eliminates harmful substances right from the beginning of the manufacturing process and sets and controls standards for environmentally friendly and safe textile production. This ensures that the final products meet very stringent consumer safety requirements and also serves as a reliable indicator of sustainability for consumers.

The bluesign system provides ASICS with two valuable tools, the bluefinder and the blueguide. With the bluefinder, suppliers can access a database of chemicals that have received bluesign approval following a thorough analysis of hazards and risks, enabling them to effectively manage the chemicals they use and ensure sustainability. The blueguide supports ASICS with the selection of sustainable materials by providing access to a database of bluesign approved fabrics, accessories and trims which are produced with safe chemicals at verified factories. These tools will be applied throughout ASICS’ global supply chain.

“ASICS is determined to further improve the sustainability of our products and supply chain by focusing on sustainable, high quality and safe materials,” said Joji Yoshimoto, General Manager of CSR Sustainability Department at ASICS. “Partnering with bluesign offers us the opportunity to shift our focus from restricting hazardous chemicals towards providing insight into positive chemicals that our suppliers can use. This positive approach is in line with our ambition to collaborate more closely with our suppliers to achieve our common sustainability goals.”

ASICS has set sustainability targets it aims to achieve by 2020. One of the goals is to expand its supply chain management scope to include Tier 2 suppliers, which includes material and trim suppliers. Joining bluesign allows ASICS to work towards these targets in a very efficient way, focusing on all issues related to Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) and chemical management in particular. Bluesign offers a very reliable framework for supplier certification that can ensure that EHS issues including chemicals are managed properly.

“We are honored that ASICS is our first Brand System Partner in Japan. ASICS has demonstrated a strategic approach to their sustainability work and we are proud they have chosen bluesign technologies as one of their partners. Their commitment as a company is evident in their many initiatives from creating innovative products to reducing the impact of their supply chain and investing in communities. We thank ASICS for showing leadership in the Japanese market and welcome them to the bluesign community”, said Jill Dumain, Chief Executive Officer at bluesign technologies.

About bluesign technologies ag
Swiss-based bluesign technologies was founded in 2000. Since then, the bluesign system has been adopted by worldwide leading textile and accessory manufacturers. Various significant key players of the chemical and machine industry rely on the bluesign system. Well-known brands in the sportswear and fashion industry rely on the extensive knowledge of bluesign technologies. For more information, visit www.bluesign.com

bluesign® is a registered trademark of bluesign technologies ag.

For further details on ASICS’ CSR and sustainability activities, please see the company website.
http://corp.asics.com/en/csr