Sustainability Statement
HUUB sustainability – We’re on it. Always have been, but it’s time to do more.
For over a decade, we’ve been making ground-breaking, innovative and transformational premium endurance sport apparel and wetsuits.
No compromises, no corners cut. Just the very best of everything. Research, materials, manufacture; we did all we could to make sure our products were the best. And it worked. We were the best at what we did.
But today, a new, and much more important challenge is presenting itself; sustainability.
And I aim to tackle it, head on. Anyone who knows me, will expect nothing less than clear, blunt honesty in respect of HUUB’s commitment to this inescapable new challenge.
So, here it is…
A few facts, first;
- Currently, we’re operating an environmentally conscious programme.
- There is much more we can do, manage and review.
- There will always be some compromises, but we need to address these like we do our products, and find solutions.
Now, a few personal promises;
- We will make constant progress towards improved and, where possible, total sustainability.
- We will not stop improving.
- We will be transparent.
The passion for excellence at HUUB has never changed from our first day of business, and I’ll make sure that remains. There are going to be constant challenges, because we still want to deliver the very best products for our clients. And I admit that sometimes in the past, this drive for excellence has got in the way of our need to embrace sustainability fully as a business.
No longer.
It is - and will always be - a gradual process. Like everyone in our industry, it’s hard to combine continued technical excellence with true sustainability.
But it must - and will - happen. And the first step to achieving this is recognition of these challenges.
The second step is to stop talking and start doing.
My commitment to you is that HUUB will pursue its commitment to true sustainability with the same passion that we apply to our industry leading products.
We aren’t where I want us to be yet. There is still a lot to do. But we are on the right path. And, most importantly we have started - and are committed to completing - this vital journey.
- Already, we’re adapting our supply chain choices for the sourcing of materials and products, minimising at every stage our impact on the environment. Not yet perfect, but progress.
- We choose organically produced cotton from Fair Trade suppliers wherever available, even if it costs more. Where we can’t, we source recycled polyester materials over virgin alternatives. With coatings, we use only environmentally friendly options. If none exist, we simply don’t use them.
- We focus on longevity of product life with everything we produce, reducing our impact on waste and landfill. We’ve introduced a children’s wetsuit upgrade programme, ensuring that each product can be exchanged for a larger size as the child grows, whilst the smaller size can be returned and reconditioned for use by a younger athlete.
- There are materials that are integral to our products that present particular challenges. For instance, a core product in many of our lines is, of course, neoprene. We are constantly analysing our sourcing, and monitoring the true impact of the two key methods of production of neoprene, ensuring that our choices always minimise environmental impact and where waste neoprene’s have been recycled.
- Our packaging is constantly being reviewed - where we can, we’re removing it entirely. Where we can’t we’re introducing compostable or recyclable alternatives. And we won’t stop until every single product packaging uses no unrecyclable content.
- Recycling or reuse is at the very forefront of our thinking and planning in absolutely every part of our business.
My personal challenge, and that of my whole team, is to identify and make genuinely effective and measurable improvements to our sustainability credentials, all the time, whilst eliminating or at least minimising the impact on the excellence of our products.
I am committed to delivering the best ‘win/win’ solution to this industry-wide issue, quickly and effectively.
It’s a journey full of challenges, but we are taking it.
You have my word.
Dean Jackson