Commercial, Energy Efficiency, Industrial  -  March 25, 2016

5 more HanesBrands manufacturing plants earn EPA recognition for energy efficiency

Five additional HanesBrands manufacturing plants have earned U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Energy Star Challenge for Industry recognition by reducing energy use by an average of 18%. 

Located in the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras, Thailand and Vietnam, the latest five HanesBrand plants to achieve the Energy Star Challenge honors benefited from a coordinated, companywide energy management initiative and employee-driven energy-saving ideas, as well as investments in technological improvements, including advanced heat recovery, air conditioning and compressed air systems, the company said in a March 24 news release. To date, 23 of the company’s manufacturing facilities have earned the honor, helping the company reduce energy use as well as the corresponding greenhouse gas emissions that result from energy use.

To earn Challenge for Industry status, manufacturing plants must reduce their energy use by 10% within a five-year period. 

Hanes said the fact that it - unlike most other apparel marketers - owns the substantial majority of its manufacturing supply chain allows the company to a significant contribution to responsible environmental practices. The company said it has reduced its energy use by 23%, its carbon emissions by 25% and its water use by 31% since 2007, and more than a quarter of its worldwide energy use comes from renewable sources such as hydro, geothermal and biomass.

"Sound environmental practices make good business sense, although achievement requires significant planning and effort," Kurt Schwalbe, Hanes director of engineering and energy management, said in the release. "We are proud of our organization's commitment to environmental practices from the executive suite to the plant floor. That's why we are the only apparel company to be a multiyear sustained excellence award winner from EPA Energy Star."

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