Hard Yakka’s Path To Sustainable & Ethical Sourcing
Hard Yakka, as part of Workwear Group, operates within the Wesfarmers framework that ensures we follow strict procedures and product safety requirements and comply with firm standards on ethical production and human rights. We take full accountability and are responsible for the products we create. Our key objectives align with our four pillars — people, sourcing, community and environment — which are aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Our mission is clear, to have a positive influence on our community, the products we create and the planet we all share.
Ethical Sourcing & Human Rights
We strive to source products in a responsible manner while working with suppliers to improve their social and environmental practices. Hard Yakka opposes the use of Modern Slavery practices in all forms and is committed to an ongoing journey of reducing and eradicating the risk of modern slavery in its supply chains and throughout its business operations, both domestically and abroad. We endeavour to source products in a responsible manner while working with suppliers to improve their Ethical & Modern slavery practices.
Being a subsidiary of Wesfarmers, Hard Yakka as a Workwear Group brand has reported publicly on our ongoing journey and performance against abolishing Modern Slavery within our supply chain since 2015. Progress on how we assess, remediate and mitigate Ethical and Modern Slavery risk throughout our supply base is made publicly available through Wesfarmers 2022 Modern Slavery Statement.
We utilise the Sedex platform to streamline ethical sourcing and human rights compliance, monitoring and social compliance audits. To align with global best practice, we use the SMETA 6.1 audit methodology, developed by Sedex. As such, we hold our suppliers accountable in a range of areas including safety practices, legal compliance, labour and human rights, modern slavery, anti-bribery and environmental impact. Our Local Australian Manufacturers are compliant with our ECA Accreditation.
We are committed to collaborating with our people, suppliers and the wider industry, improving working conditions for people employed along our supply chain and strengthen relationships with suppliers. We partner with the Bangladesh Accord (RMG Sustainability Council [RSC]), Ethical Clothing Australia (ECA), Baptist World Aid, Better Cotton and Sedex, and we are constantly looking for new partnerships to ensure we are delivering world-class sustainable objectives. By partnering with industry leading organisations, we guarantee that we are always striving for world’s best practice in this ever-growing space.
Our company mission is to be the leading workwear provider and make every wearer feel proud, protected and positive at work, rest or play.
Hard Yakka, as part of Workwear Group, upholds strict standards regarding product quality and safety. Workwear Group quality management system is accredited to the ISO 9001:2015 standard. This system covers every aspect of the production process, from design to finished product. We seek to provide the highest quality products for our customers, and our policies and programs ensure we can deliver on this promise. We conduct strict fabric and product testing and inspection to maintain product performance, safety, and quality during and in the pre- and post-production stages.
Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation
As a member of APCO, Workwear Group is committed to the 2025 National Packaging Targets. Hard Yakka is a trusted brand of Workwear Group and is focused on reducing on-product packaging and increasing recycled content in packaging. Packaging reduction initiatives that Hard Yakka is working on include:
■ Further reducing the number of swing tickets on Hard Yakka products;
■ Replacing plastic tags with JUTE twine for Hard Yakka swing tags;
■ Reducing excess plastic packaging from Hard Yakka footwear range and providing one swing tag only;
■ Reducing the number of garment polybags by introducing a single carton liner for high volume Hard Yakka products.*
■ A partnership with Reground to collect and recycle coloured soft plastic. Reground creates a community around waste resources and our current waste disposal structure to minimise the number of coffee grounds, chaff and soft plastic ending up in landfill.
■ Rebranding our new warehouse cartons to ensure the end user knows how to dispose of the packaging correctly.
■ Ensuring all footwear boxes are made from fully recycled cardboard and advising customers that branded cardboard cartons are Forest Stewardship Council (FSC®) certified and should be recycled.
Footwear For The Future
A Sustainable Future, One Step At A Time
At Hard Yakka, we know how important it is that we all do our part. We are working to integrate more sustainable development and design in all facets of the product. Hard Yakka is very passionate about this, and strives to be industry leaders in finding new ways to incorporate both recycled materials and improved processes.
Improved commitment to our sustainability journey include increasing recycled materials in our products – our latest launch, Quantum, has been engineered with recycled elements, resulting in a product made using 33% recycled plastics and textiles. This is achieved using NatureTex Linings and upper material, which is made from recycled plastic bottles.
Other key sustainable elements include:
■ Recycled ETPU popcorn footbed
■ Hard Yakka TPU contains recycled material
■ Initiatives in packaging reduction and movement to more sustainable options
■ Footwear boxes contain recycled cardboard
■ Reduction in the use of swing tags
■ Reduction in plastic bags (secondary lace packaging).
We’re On A Mission - A Mission to Improve Cotton Farming Globally
Hard Yakka, as part of Workwear Group, has committed to sourcing 100 per cent of its cotton from preferred or ‘more sustainable sources by 2025. ‘More sustainable’ cotton includes Better Cotton, Australian Cotton, organic cotton and recycled cotton. Hard Yakka, as part of Workwear Group, has taken a step forward in our sustainability journey by partnering with Better Cotton to improve cotton farming practices globally.
Better Cotton trains farmers according to best-farming practices covering efficient water use, soil health care, harmful pesticides and fertiliser reduction, and respect for worker rights and wellbeing. As of FY22, 65 per cent of our cotton is sourced as Better Cotton, ahead of our 2025 target. Better Cotton is sourced via a system of ‘mass balance’. While the cotton fibre itself is not physically traceable to end products, Better Cotton farmers benefit from the demand for Better Cotton in equivalent volumes to those we ‘source.’
Better Cotton brings together farmers, ginners, manufacturers, retailers, brands, civil society and grassroots organisations in a unique global community committed to developing Better Cotton as a sustainable mainstream commodity.
Diverting Waste from Landfill, by Introducing Recycled Materials.
REPREVE® is a brand of recycled materials made by Unifi, Inc, a global textile solutions provider and one of the world’s leading innovators in synthetic and recycled performance fibers. Unifi believes true innovation starts in the fiber, and REPREVE® is one of Unifi’s proudest creations—made today for the good of tomorrow.
For consumers who want to care for the environment, now and into the future, REPREVE® is the leading brand that inspires to be a catalyst for change through recycling. When they buy products made with REPREVE®, they know they are part of a movement to protect the land, oceans, wildlife, air and natural resources they love, for the next generation.
REPREVE® is performance fiber made from 100% recycled materials, including recycled plastic bottles. REPREVE® is creating an amazing loop that recovers waste to make our land, oceans, air and natural resources sustainable for the next generation.
