“Our goal is to develop a methodology for calculating the environmental impact of all winter sports equipment. This could be the foundation of a future product environmental performance labeling system. We want to contribute to the transformation of our industry!”
— Xavier Le Guen, Vice President of Salomon Winter Sports Equipment.
Salomon has unveiled the findings of its winter sports product life-cycle assessments (LCA) that have been conducted across the company’s ski and snowboard product range. The study, which began in 2019, was undertaken with the goal of understanding the environmental impact of Salomon’s entire product offering with a science-based approach. Now, Salomon is open sourcing the results to assist the snow sports industry in creating a reference that will push the industry toward more sustainable product design.
Three years ago, Salomon became the first winter sports company to commit to a Science Based Target (SBT) that is approved by the Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi), which defines and promotes best practice in emissions and net-zero targets in line with climate science. This means the Salomon Winter Sports department has a carbon reduction target that is scientifically aligned with the Paris Agreement and the global objective of not exceeding 1.5°C global warming.
Conducting the life-cycle assessment (LCA) of its products allows the Salomon teams to know the environmental impact of each step in the product creation process, from the sourcing of materials all the way to the product end of life management. In this way, the LCA work is directly informing the global climate strategy of Salomon with science-based data.
Salomon hopes that sharing these learnings with other ski and snowboard brands can be a catalyst for innovative change within the snow sports industry in the years ahead.
To better amplify its LCA findings, Salomon winter sports is liaising with its network of industry partners including fellow snow sports equipment manufacturers, resorts, and various ski industry associations such as Snowsports Industry of America (SIA), Protect Our Winters (POW), Federation of the European Sporting Goods Industry (FESI), European Outdoor Group (EOG), Outdoor Sports Valley (OSV) and the International Biathlon Union (IBU).
The LCA work has already made a very tangible impact within Salomon. With in-house sustainability experts, the winter sports product development teams have been able to alter product design to integrate recycled materials and find new ways to create products by using less materials. Establishing LCAs are helping Salomon progress towards their Science Based Targets and open discussions with the industry, ensuring we are all skiing for generations to come.
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