Bengaluru: Myntra has become the first e-commerce enterprise in India to partner with Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), a global non-profit organization, heading the largest cotton sustainability program in the world, marking another step in its journey of sustainability and keeping with its commitment to creating a more sustainable world. As a part of this collaboration, Myntra’s in-house brands will source the cotton for their apparel through BCI.
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 utilize lesser chemicals and water to extract maximum efficiency from the farmland. These efforts are towards making global cotton production better for the producers, as well as a healthier future for the sector.
Through this partnership Myntra will focus on sourcing 10% of its cotton requirements from BCI, to begin with, 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 would 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 in equivalent volumes to those we source.
Better Cotton now accounts for 23% of the global cotton production, with BCI’s nearly 70 implementing partners rapidly adapting their practices to evolving circumstances during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Commenting 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 the 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”.
Myntra has been undertaking efforts in devising and adopting ways across various aspects of its business operations towards reducing the overall carbon footprint and creating a positive impact on the environment. Through initiatives such as ‘Myntra for Earth’, which hosts over 70 eco-friendly brands that collectively offer 5000 styles, partnership with Canopy, aimed to conserve forests by moving towards incorporating sustainable packaging and material sourcing, and moving towards paper-packaging & eco-friendly tags, Myntra has been taking several initiatives towards its commitment to sustainability.
