2020 Sustainability Goals

– Our Product –

Improving the sustainability of our products has three points of entry: softgoods, hardgoods, and packaging. Aiming to meet the highest level of safety and environmental responsibility, by design year 2020 (the Winter 2022 product season) all of our softgoods will be bluesign® approved, contain only sustainable cotton, use zero biocides, and less water. We’ll reduce carbon emissions by 20% in the production of our hardgoods, and package up our products with only recyclable or compostable materials.

Making the best product is still our number one priority. For as long as we exist, we’ll keep making it better. Sustainable design is at the core of every decision and detail that defines our products from materials to manufacturing, and all the way through what happens at the end of their life.

bluesign®

Burton has a goal of 100% bluesign® softgoods by 2020. We see bluesign® as the gold standard for ensuring that our products are responsibly crafted in manufacturing processes that manage natural resources efficiently, produce cleaner air and water emissions, and use only those chemicals that are deemed safe for people and the planet. In Winter 19/20, 91% of Burton outerwear, 55% of first layers, and 51% of daypacks are bluesign® products. We’re proud that 75% of our materials are bluesign® approved – one of the highest percentages in the world.

Lifetime Warranty & Durable Goods

We know that the most sustainable product is the one that lasts. Many of our products have lifetime warranties—like our bags and most of our outerwear. For everything else, we have our W48 Warranty that guarantees your product will be repaired or replaced within 48 hours of receiving it.

End of Life

We’re designing our products with end of life solutions in mind. If a product comes back to us, we first aim to repair it. If we must replace it, we work to keep everything out of the landfill. At our global headquarters repair center we divert 60-85% of every board from the landfill by down-cycling them into items like beer sample holders for our local breweries, shelving units, and employee name tags. In 2018 we repaired 22% of warranty claims. We’re aiming to repair 40% by 2020, while implementing new end of life innovations each year.

Environmentally Preferred Materials

We use highly technical life cycle assessment (LCA) software to improve the environmental impact of our products where it matters most. LCA is a detailed look at our full product cycle, from the starting point of extracting natural resources through manufacturing, to transport, and end of life. Our industry-leading LCA initiatives guide us toward the highest impact areas we can remove or improve. LCA is responsible for many of our sustainability innovations and is why we do things like use bio-based resins and source all of our snowboard cores from responsibly managed sources that are FSC™ certified (FSC™C124994). We’re also using recycled and organic materials wherever possible to reduce our impact. For 2020, we have committed to 100% sustainable cotton, 50% recycled polyester and a 20% carbon reduction across our full range of hardgoods (boards, boots, bindings, and helmets).

Responsibly Sourced Down

In an effort to improve animal welfare in the apparel and outerwear industry, we use 100% responsibly sourced down in our jackets and insulators. We require that our suppliers source materials that are certified all the way back to the parent farms where the birds are raised and first produce eggs. This validation process is moderated by a third party, ensuring that every feather originates from ethically treated ducks and geese. They keep us warm; let's keep them safe.

Sustainably Harvested Wood

Wood cores are one of the most important materials in our snowboards, so we fully certified our supply chain to ensure that 100% of our snowboard cores are made from responsibly harvested wood that meets the standards of the Forest Stewardship Council™ (FSC). FSC wood is verified to not be harvested illegally, in violation of traditional and civil rights, in forests where high conservation values are threatened, in forests being converted to plantations or non-forest use, and in forests where genetically modified trees are planted.

Packaging

We have a 2020 goal in place to ensure that 100% of our packaging is recyclable or compostable, that 80% is made of post-consumer recycled content, and that all of our packaging is “right-sized” so that no excess material is ever used.

Snowboard Manufacturing

Our Austrian snowboard factory has been working with us for more than 30 years and strives for sustainability in its operations. The factory sources most materials within a 250-mile radius, makes their own snowboard cores from FSC™ wood, and then uses scrap wood to heat the factory and presses. They recycle sidewall and base scrap materials and also recycle the water used in production which reduces water consumption by 50%. The factory runs on 100% renewable energy. Another Burton factory is installing rooftop solar to power its production.
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