Italian footwear start-up ACBC helps big fashion brands initiate climate action

The Italian footwear company ACBC, which stands for “Anything Can be Changed”, has recently launched their ‘Sustainability as a Service’ programme together with ClimatePartner, enabling leading fashion and sportswear brands to measure and reduce the carbon footprint of their products.

ACBC is the first and only B Corp in Italy in the footwear segment and is a leader in the design and production of “Green Capsule Collections” for brands in the fashion and sportswear category. From day one the Italian company has produced its products under highest sustainability standards, using only materials that are natural, recycled and cruelty-free.

Reducing a shoe’s carbon footprint

As experts in sustainable footwear design and production, ACBC has collaborated with ClimatePartner in the past to establish and reduce the Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) of their flagship shoe model Evergreen. The certified BCorp is now going one step further by involving its collaborators, well-known luxury and sportswear brands, on the mission to make the fashion industry more sustainable.

Nudging fashion leaders towards more sustainability

With the latest ‘Sustainability as a Service’ programme ACBC helps companies to establish the carbon footprint of their products as well as taking the right measures to make them carbon neutral. This includes reducing emissions where possible, for instance by making production processes more sustainable as emissions in manufacturing can make up to two-thirds of a shoe's carbon impact. It also involves the usage of more environmentally friendly product materials. In the final step, unabated emissions are offset through certified carbon offset projects to achieve carbon neutrality.

Gio Giacobbe, CEO of ACBC, explains: "CO₂ emissions are a big issue today in terms of climate change and we are aware the fashion industry is a major contributor. Only targeted plans and solutions can help solve this problem.” He further shares his view on the potential of the ‘Sustainability as a Service’ programme: “We have started to offer our new service to the companies we work with, and we already have seven contracts with fashion giants in place. We look forward to many more collaborations in the future that can all together make a significant contribution towards making the fashion industry more sustainable.”

To read more about ACBCs ‘Sustainability as a Service’, click here.