CB BureauThe fashion and lifestyle e-commerce company has partnered with Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), a global non-profit organisation heading the largest cotton sustainability programme in the world, to source cotton for its in-house brands. To begin with, Myntra will focus on sourcing 10% of its cotton requirements from BCI, and in the next five to seven years aim to increase it to ~50%.
To make it easier to adopt, scale and measure, a mass-balance model will be followed where Better Cotton can be mixed with conventional cotton through the supply chain. While this means Better Cotton is not physically traceable to end products, BCI farmers benefit from the demand for Better Cotton.
Apparently, Myntra has become the first e-commerce enterprise in India to partner with BCI. On the partnership, Neetu Jotwani, VP – product development & sourcing, Myntra, says: ‘As the leading fashion and lifestyle retailer in the country, we aim to incorporate more environmentally responsible practices throughout our supply chain. Partnering with Better Cotton Initiative means we will continue the journey to source more sustainable cotton across our entire business, working towards a brighter future for the cotton industry and those whose lives depend on it.’
Motivated to enrich global cotton production and make cotton farming sustainable, BCI aims to make Better Cotton the first choice among manufacturers. In the previous cotton season, BCI, along with its partners, trained over 2.7 million cotton farmers in sustainable practices that utilise less chemicals and water to extract maximum efficiency from the farmland. Better Cotton now accounts for 23% of the global cotton production.
On its part, Myntra has been taking initiatives to meet its sustainability goals – examples being ‘Myntra for Earth’, which hosts over 70 eco-friendly brands that collectively offer 5,000 styles; and its partnership with Canopy, aimed to conserve forests by adopting sustainable packaging and material sourcing and moving towards eco-friendly tags.