Issaquah, WA-based SanMar (asi/84863), the top supplier in the promotional products industry, has just released its 2022 “A Canvas for Good” sustainability report, highlighting its commitment to reduce carbon emissions and the investments it’s made in a school in the Honduran community. The apparel supplier also touted its successful reaccreditation with the Fair Labor Association (FLA).

“We are incredibly proud of the work we’ve accomplished in the past year and feel privileged to share this work with our stakeholders,” Emily Gigot, senior manager of sustainability at SanMar, told ASI Media. “We are making great strides, but we’re not done. Sustainability is part of our DNA, and we remain focused on delivering products that are made with people and planet in mind.”

One of the areas SanMar focused on in the report was its ongoing commitment to support the communities where it operates through charitable giving. Last year, SanMar and its employees donated nearly $31,000 to 95 nonprofits through the supplier’s Employee Charitable Match Program. SanMar says it matches employee charitable contributions up to $250 per employee per year. The company also donated $28,000 worth of apparel through its Customer Merchandise Donation Fund.

Jeremy Lott, SanMar

Of particular note, however, was SanMar’s work with the Mhotivo School in Choloma, Honduras – where many of the families of its factory partners live and work. The supplier made an investment last year in partnership with the W. Duke Kimbrell Family Foundation, an affiliate of yarn manufacturer Parkdale Mills, to support the addition of 22 classrooms, a computer lab and additional administrative offices to help increase enrollment by 600 students.

SanMar also shared its progress with lessening its environmental impact.

“SanMar is in a unique position to make environmental progress,” Paul Whyatt, chief financial officer, said in the report. “Being a family-owned, vertically integrated business enables us to move quickly and decisively to make investments that not only reduce our impact, but make good business sense.”

In 2022, SanMar launched a plan to reduce its Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 50% per pound of product by 2030 (with 2019 as the base year). It also shared its goal to cut Scope 3 GHG emissions from purchased goods and services by 50% during the same timeframe. Those goals were approved by the Science Based Targets initiative, an organization that works to drive ambitious climate action in the private sector.

“We know we have our work cut out for us, but this ambitious target is an important first step to chart our path forward,” noted Power 50 member Jeremy Lott, SanMar president and CEO, in the report’s opening letter. “In the coming months and years, we’ll be exploring new initiatives both within our own facilities and with our suppliers to reduce our emissions.”

Other reduction highlights include e-waste recycling events held throughout the year, which helped employees recycle 14,969 pounds of e-waste – such as computers and mobile phones – in 2022. The supplier also recycled more than 1,000 pounds of unusable fabric samples, swatches and other textiles scraps last year. SanMar supplier noted that all of its paper-based packaging includes recycled content and that its product development team has worked to eliminate polybags and excess packaging wherever possible and is transitioning what remains to 100% recycled content.

SanMar says that in 2022 it offered three times more apparel styles that incorporate recycled content than in 2019. That includes its Re Collection items, which are made from 100% recycled materials and aren’t redyed. The Re-Tee was introduced in January 2020 and was quickly expanded to incorporate apparel and accessories in five product categories, all using fabric designed to reduce waste and save resources by combining unused cotton scraps with recycled polyester (rPET). The supplier also says it’s working with the nonprofit Accelerating Circularity, participating in the first U.S. trials to scale post-consumer recycling and turn textile waste into mainstream raw materials.

SanMar’s other major Canvas for Good accomplishment was its reaccreditation with the FLA, an international network that promotes human rights among the global workforce. The supplier joined the FLA in 2007 and first became accredited in 2012. Its reaccreditation – which reflects continuous improvements to keep pace with FLA standards – was finalized in March of this year.

“We have grown our program to set a standard of fair working conditions by steadily introducing new initiatives and sharpening our existing practices,” Lott said in the opening letter. “Our focus on supplier relationships has allowed us to invest for the long term.”

Based on estimated 2021 North American promotional product revenue of nearly $2.89 billion, SanMar ranked first on Counselor’s most recent list of the largest suppliers in the industry. The new rankings are due out later this month.

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