Hanesbrands is committed to using energy efficiently throughout our facilities and drawing from renewable energy sources where possible. This commitment is built on two imperatives: to operate a low-cost supply chain, and to do our share in addressing global climate change.

We have established four company-wide goals for energy use and carbon reduction. We aim to reach these goals by 2012 (against a 2007 baseline):

  • Maintain renewable energy usage at or above 30 percent.
  • Reduce energy intensity (energy use per manufactured unit) by 20 percent.
  • Reduce CO2 emissions intensity (CO2 emissions per manufactured unit) by 15 percent.
  • Reduce water usage intensity (water use per manufactured unit) by 10 percent. (Most of the water we use is heated in our manufacturing facilities, meaning that reduction of water use leads to energy savings).

We are committed to tracking and reporting our corporate carbon footprint. In 2009, our renewable energy sourcing initiatives – such as biomass, hydroelectric and geothermal – and other renewable energy from our utility providers prevented 185,000 metric tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere. Our commitment to energy efficiency over the same period reduced our carbon footprint by 62,000 metric tons of CO2. These two areas of CO2 avoidance are equal to removing more than 47,000 cars from the road for one year.

  • By the end of 2009, renewable energy accounted for 30 percent of the total energy used across our supply chain, up from 21 percent in early 2007.

In recognition of our efforts, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency named Hanesbrands a 2010 Energy Star Partner of the Year in the category of energy management.

We are also a member of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and pursue the USGBC's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for newly constructed facilities and some existing facilities, and we follow LEED-based operational practices.

When shipping goods, we seek to use transportation methods with the lowest environmental impact, and we organized our facilities around the world into three regional clusters to reduce the distance goods travel during manufacturing and distribution.