New Wave Group Sustainability Report 2023 | Page 17

17 About the report and sustainability work

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PRODUCTS WITH SUSTAINABILITY ATTRIBUTES An important tool of the transition towards a more sustainable industry is developing products made from more sustainable materials and / or through smarter production processes . We have chosen to measure this using our own indicator called " products with sustainability attributes ". When classifying the products , we follow established industry practices . Development in this area is moving quickly and the list of materials and processes we consider more sustainable is updated and adjusted over the years .

Textile products with sustainability attributes include products with one or more of the following labels , materials , or more environmentally friendly processes :

GOTS , Oeko-Tex , Fairtrade , recycled polyester , solution-dyed polyester , recycled polyamide , and EXP 4.0-treated wool . Oeko-Tex is by far the most widely represented .

So-called " hardline products " with sustainability attributes include products with one or more of the following labels or materials : FSC , recycled polyester , recycled rubber , sugar cane-based plastic , and recycled glass . Crystal products from Orrefors and Kosta Boda , made from crystal free from lead and arsenic - substances that unfortunately are still commonly found in theindustry - are also included .

2020 2021 2022 2023 Goal Comments

* New Wave Group has around 7,000 active products ( color / size excluded ). Around 50 % are textile products and 50 % are hardline products . Stated percentages should be viewed with caution as the number of active products is an estimate ( due to challenges in consolidation at group level ).

THIRD PARTY AUDITED FACTORIES IN RISK COUNTRIES An important tool for identifying , preventing , reducing , and addressing sustainability risks in the global supply chain is third party audits of external suppliers . Our goal is for all factories in risk countries ( as defined by amfori BSCI ) to have undergone a third party audit with a good grade . The purchasing offices are very close to set goals , but there are still challenges with sourcing made outside the offices , which are often smaller productions and not recurring . Due to the COVID pandemic , there have also been challenges with postponed and canceled audits .

2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 Goal Comments

* The decrease is mainly due to one factory with high purchasing volume whose audit was delayed and rescheduled to 2021 due to the corona pandemic .