Summary
Old Navy has made some progress in sustainability, particularly in sustainable cotton sourcing and water conservation through its Washwell™ program. However, the brand faces significant challenges in areas such as supply chain transparency, ethical labor practices, circularity, and waste reduction. The heavy reliance on virgin polyester, lack of comprehensive emissions data, and absence of robust take-back or resale programs indicate that Old Navy's sustainability efforts are still evolving and require further commitment and transparency.
Categories
10 total
Gap Inc. reports that 98% of its cotton comes from more sustainable sources, including BCI, organic, recycled, and regenerative cotton. However, Old Navy still relies heavily on virgin polyester, and products labeled as 'sustainable' can contain as little as 5% recycled content, raising concerns about greenwashing.
Old Navy's Washwell™ denim program has saved over 6 billion liters of water since 2016, validated by the World Resources Institute. Despite this progress, the brand does not publish specific data regarding its overall water consumption or chemical use, limiting a comprehensive assessment of its water conservation efforts.
Old Navy, as part of Gap Inc., publishes a full list of Tier 1 factories and annual ESG reports, providing some level of transparency. However, the brand's raw materials traceability scored just 5/100 on the Fashion Transparency Index, indicating significant room for improvement in supply chain visibility.
As of 2022, 58% of electricity used in Gap Inc.'s company-operated facilities was from renewable sources. While this is a positive step, specific data on Old Navy's energy efficiency initiatives and renewable energy usage are not publicly disclosed, making it difficult to evaluate the brand's performance in this area.
Old Navy does not provide specific information regarding its animal welfare policies or the use of animal-derived materials. The lack of transparency in this area makes it difficult to assess the brand's commitment to animal welfare and cruelty-free practices.
Old Navy is a member of the Better Cotton Initiative and follows ZDHC chemical management standards. However, the brand lacks major sustainable material certifications like GOTS or OEKO-TEX, and no supply chain factories are certified by independent labor standards such as Fair Trade or SA8000.
Gap Inc. has set science-based targets to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and a 30% reduction in Scope 3 emissions by 2030. However, Old Navy does not publish specific data regarding its greenhouse gas emissions, making it challenging to assess the brand's progress toward these targets.
Old Navy announced the elimination of plastic shopping bags in U.S. and Canada stores by 2023. However, the brand lacks robust take-back or resale initiatives to manage post-consumer waste, and its business model inherently creates significant amounts of waste due to the high volume of disposable fashion items.
Old Navy's fast fashion model promotes overconsumption and short-term use of clothing, contributing to significant textile waste. The brand lacks meaningful take-back, resale, or repair programs to address the end-of-life of its products, indicating a need for improvement in circularity and product longevity.
Old Navy requires minimum legal wages but does not guarantee living wages for its workers. Only 68% of its facilities are 'green-rated' on internal audits, and no supply chain factories are certified by independent labor standards, raising concerns about the brand's commitment to ethical labor practices.