Our Collective Action Programs leverage the legacy program methodology of Clean by Design (CbD), a highly successful mill improvement program that reduces environmental impacts of textile manufacturing leveraging 10 best practices focused on wet processing facilities, to identify, fund, scale and measure stepwise solutions.
CLEAN by DESIGN – (Inaugural Aii Program) Energy & Water Efficiency for Stage 1 Tier 2 program (CbD S1T2) – Developed to capture low-hanging fruit improvements, resulting in 10% energy and 20% water reductions on average.
CLEAN by DESIGN + Energy & Water Efficiency for Stage 2 Tier 2 program (CbD S2T2) – Developed to maximize efficiency, resulting in up to 20% energy and 30% water reductions on average.
CLEAN by DESIGN – Energy Efficiency Stage 1 Tier 1 (CbD S1T1) – Captures low hanging fruit efficiency improvements for facilities without wet processing.
CLEAN by DESIGN – Chemistry & Wastewater Treatment (CbD Chemistry) – Includes an initial assessment of current performance and prioritized activities for optimizing chemical inputs and wastewater management currently piloting in India and entering model phase in 2021.
CARBON LEADERSHIP PROGRAM- This program brings together action-oriented brands in the apparel industry to accelerate the implementation of their supply chain carbon targets, while also standardizing approaches with their suppliers so that they can be replicated by the rest of the industry.
RENEWABLES IN VIETNAM:ONSITE ROOFTOP SOLAR GROUP PROCUREMENT PILOT PROGRAM
The Clean Energy Investment Accelerator (CEIA), the Apparel Impact Institute (Aii)and IDH, The Sustainable Trade Initiative intend to collaborate in an effort to introduce aggregated procurement approaches to enable greater use of clean energy in Vietnam’s apparel industry supply chain.




Our Current Programs

The approach
In partnership with leading industry experts we work to identify, recruit and support manufacturing facilities through a multi-year continuous improvement roadmap, broken into year-long increments.
Our work focuses on scaling initiatives designed to identify opportunities for wet processing mills to improve operational and environmental efficiency. Over the course of the year, mills receive training and expert support to implement resource and cost saving projects. Our project participants typically recoup their investments in these projects in less than 12 months.
Ready for scale
Apparel Impact Institute is currently focusing on aligning & scaling mill improvement, one of the most environmentally impactful segments of clothing production. The Mill/impact initiative is committed to reducing energy, chemical and water use.
We currently have mill improvement programs deployed in mainland China, Vietnam, India, and Taiwan. Our next growth areas are: Japan, Bangladesh, Turkey and Cambodia.
Clean By Design in Practice
What is CbD
Clean by Design is an approach to green supply chain efficiency which brings together multinational apparel retailers and fashion brands to improve upon environmental impacts in their factories at home and abroad...
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How the Program Works
Multinational apparel buyers, government authorities and industry trade associations encourage mills to join the CbD program. Then, all Mill/Impact programs that meet the CbD criteria, participating mills complete a performance scan which recognizes the facilities existing results while identifying…
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Best Practices
The cornerstone of CbD is a set of 10 Best Practices that when implemented in any production facility can deliver almost immediate return on investment – most projects pay for themselves in less than one year. These foundational elements of resource management represent…
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