Our approach to sustainability

Sustainability is at the core of everything we do, and we acknowledge the fact that it is never a stationary state of being, but instead requires constant re-evaluation of our actions. That’s why we keep our eyes open and constantly look for new and innovative ways of making clothes, as well as new ways to contribute to social sustainability.

We want to be part of the solution and help people make good choices and live more sustainable, active lives. We believe that offering better – but uncomplicated – alternatives is the best way for us to make a difference.

Some of the ways we go about this are using materials sourced in an ethical and environmentally friendly fashion and designing for recyclability from the very start of the creative process.

To see how we have progressed this plan of ours so far and what goals lie ahead, check out our sustainability roadmap further below. We will be launching a more detailed roadmap in the near future to provide a more concrete view into what we’re doing, so stay tuned!

Designing for recyclability & circularity

Making sustainable clothing and shifting towards a circular economy starts on the design table. We always aim to design high-quality durable clothes that can be used for a long time and repaired instead of thrown out at the first sign of damage.

We also try to design our clothes to be as easily recyclable as possible, so that when a jacket or a pair of trousers finally reaches the end of its lifetime, its materials can be given a new life through recycling. Improving the recyclability of our products with every collection is one of our current main priorities.

Recycled plastic is a good example of a material that fits into our design philosophy, as recovered plastic waste is turned into new textiles that are again recyclable at the end of their useful life. We are, however, looking into alternative design and material options that reduce the shedding of microplastics.

We will increase our use of recycled materials by 5–10% per collection with the aim of having all our synthetic fabrics made from recycled materials by the year 2024.

Mono-materials at the core of circular economy

Design plays a key role in the circular economy of the future. We are paying closer attention to the entire life cycle of our products – from planning to materials, production, and end-of-life solutions. Our objective to improve recyclability and reduce textile waste becomes concrete in mono-material products, the first of which we have included in our autumn 2022 collection.

A mono-material piece of clothing is a product made using only one material in the textile parts of the product. The separation of different fibre types from a blend of materials poses the greatest challenge for the recycling of textiles. Manufacturing clothing from a single fibre type makes recycling possible on a much larger scale. Mono-material fibre is also a higher quality resource when the aim is to establish a circular economy in which garments that have reached the end of their useful life are recycled into new garments.

A circular economy cannot function properly without the support of a suitable infrastructure. Recycling technologies are being constantly developed, but there is still work to do. When the technologies are ready, we want to ensure that our materials are too. While increasing the use of recycled materials at the beginning of our products’ life cycle, we are also systematically increasing the share of mono-material products in order to close the cycle.

Certified sustainable materials

We keep up with the latest developments in certified sustainable materials and incorporate them into our collections whenever possible.

Some concrete examples of this in the upcoming seasons include the introduction of plant-based Sorona® fibre to reduce the amount of elastane in our products, adding recycled cotton to our material selection and starting an exciting pilot program with a new Finnish wood-based material innovation.

In our autumn 2022 collection, 96% of the materials used contain recycled fibres, plant-based and other renewable fibres or traditional fibres produced in more sustainable ways. Taking into account the different material mixtures, environmentally preferred options make up more than 50% of the total fibres used in the collection.

We use recycled polyester and cardboard as packaging materials. Since 2020, all of our polybags have been recycled and in 2021 we have set a policy that all new production of our packaging boards will be replaced with FSC-certified and recycled alternatives.

Carbon footprint

We strive to reduce our carbon footprint by increasing the amount of recycled material in our collection and by favouring eco-friendly processes. We are also looking to increase the share of renewable energy sources in our production and aim to be completely carbon neutral by 2025.

Production and supply chain

One of the best ways to ensure environmentally and socially sustainable production is to foster long-term relationships with trusted, reliable factories and material suppliers. We follow ethical guidelines and are currently taking steps towards improving the transparency of our supply chain. See our Code of Conduct here.

We also use recycled packaging materials and follow the EU REACH regulation on chemicals (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals).

Full product life cycle

We make high quality clothes that last. We have a small-scale repair service in our home town Lahti, where we have provided repair services for products in the higher price range. You can also contact the repair service by contacting our customer service asiakaspalvelu@luhta.com. As part of the responsibility program, we will study how the offering of this service could be expanded directly to the consumer in the coming years.

When clothes are clearly at the end of their life cycle, take them to textile recycling instead of throwing them away with other waste. Properly recycled textiles can be reused, for example, as cleaning cloths or as insulation material.

Sustainability roadmap

2016 – Joining the Fairtrade Cotton Program

2017 – Products completely free from PFCs

2019 – Introduction of REPREVE® recycled polyester in our collections

2020 – Introduction of Lenzing's TENCEL™ fibres in our collections & switch to fully recycled packaging materials

2021 – More than half of our materials are from certified & recycled sources

2022 – Principles of circular economy as the basis of clothing design. First mono-material product pilots.

2023 – 40% of the collection consists of monomaterial products

2024 – All synthetic fabrics made from recycled materials

2025 – 100% carbon-neutral

2026 – Collections 100% in line with the principles of circular economy