Offering the best quality starts with the materials used and ends with the finished shoe. LOWA understands the demands on its performance as a guiding value for the high quality of its products.
Corporate Responsibility At LOWA
Corporate responsibility (CR) stands for far-sighted management in a company’s core business and has a high priority in the business’s overall strategy.
CR is a key aspect of sustainable growth in the following areas of business activity: the market, jobs, the common good, the environment and supply chains.
Social, environmental and commercial issues are given equal weight, and stakeholders are integrated into the strategic focus of the company’s CR activities.
Not many industries are so obviously linked to nature as the outdoor industry.
Corporate responsibility (CR) and sustainability have therefore become increasingly important in recent years across all businesses.
High-quality materials and equipment, whose form and function must meet special, and often very demanding usage requirements, need to be durable and robust as well as not harmful to health and the environment.
And this applies not only to the end products themselves; their production should and must also take place under fair and environmentally sound conditions.
LOWA takes pride in our comprehensive and thoughtful CR strategy. Read about it below!
Mission Statement - Our Philosophy
LOWA’s guiding principles give the company and its employees a framework for reasoning that can be used as a basis for making decisions and presenting them both internally and externally. The principles serve as a standard and orientation for employees and customers.
CR Areas At LOWA
The below aspects are part of the company philosophy at LOWA and have been combined into a comprehensive CR strategy.
This strategy is part of a long-range process that touches on all areas of the company.
The ultimate aim of this work is to gradually integrate the sustainable company philosophy into a range of sub-areas at the company and to transparently showcase our CR activities.
Products
We select the highest-quality materials that meet all requirements related to the elimination of harmful substances. As part of this work, LOWA has compiled a restricted substances list for all products that is based on such international criteria as the CADS guidelines.
We also pay attention to the leather we use. Leather is a natural product that is the basis of many LOWA shoes and boots. LOWA works exclusively with European tanneries that practise a sustainable production philosophy such as Heinen Terracare®.
All tanneries are carefully selected so their company philosophies of ecological and socially responsible production align perfectly with LOWA’s own philosophy.
All materials used by LOWA including textile uppers, linings, shoe laces, glue dye etc. are free of harmful chemicals.
LOWA does not use merino wool from sheep that have undergone mulesing, down feathers, milk or other food fibres, nano-technology, antiperspirants, biocides or antifungal agents.
You can learn more about LOWA's materials and technology by clicking here.
Environmental & Nature Protection
Sustainable actions mean a responsible company puts high value on the “how” of doing things.
As an outdoor sports brand, LOWA lives with and from nature and the outdoors. That is why we carefully handle resources and contribute to environmental protection.
Increasing energy efficiency and boosting the use of renewable energy are explicit goals at LOWA.
Since 2018, a large section of company car parks, warehousing and production buildings in Jetzendorf are covered by a photovoltaic system. This covers around 25 per cent of our annual power needs with solar-power that has been produced on site.
We use 100 per cent green, hydroelectric power to satisfy the remaining demand.
Since 2001, LOWA actively supports nature-protecting projects through a reforestation project run by the Bavarian State Forest Enterprise. This includes planting 500 trees annually.
This is designed to maintain a healthy mixed forest, one of our most valuable ecosystems.
This reforestation work is part of the 2 Million Tree Project of the European Outdoor Conservation Association – a non-profit organisation made up of companies in the European outdoor industry whose membership dues flow entirely into nature-protection projects around the world.
LOWA is also a part of the European Outdoor Conservation Association supporting their global nature-preservation projects.
Production Site & Conditions
As an industry leader in the age of globalisation, LOWA consciously applies a philosophy of “Made in Europe” to guarantee the best product quality, fair wages and social benefits for employees.
Developing and producing high-quality outdoor footwear is a complex process that requires a high degree of handicraft. By making footwear in Europe, LOWA can maintain a close relationship between production operation and the research and development department.
This ensures comprehensive know-how and the control over technologies remain in our own hands. LOWA also benefits from the continuous quality controls during every stage of production.
Did you know that LOWA can produce a completely new prototype within one day at its base in Jetzendorf?!
Employees
LOWA bears responsibility for the entire production process and for the working conditions of the people who manufacture and process the company’s preliminary and final products.
It is important to guarantee sustainability and responsible conduct throughout the value chain. This includes fair working conditions and wages as well as occupational safety and environmentally friendly production.
At LOWA, the company’s employees constitute its most precious resource. The company embraces diversity, pays fair wages, offers social-security benefits and supports the individual growth of its employees. Everyone pitches in together, and employees personally stand behind the company’s products.
At LOWA, we have a very pleasant working environment.
Watch LOWA's Sustainability Video Below to learn more:
CR Management
CR management at LOWA has been organisationally placed with the company’s management team. This enables LOWA to identify areas with improvement potential and to derive and implement corresponding measures.
Alexander Nicolai is the corporate responsibility officer of the company’s management team and oversees all CR activities. The CR manager is Ingmar Anderson, a full-time employee who reports directly to the management team.
The department heads for CR-relevant activities also work at the company’s headquarters in Jetzendorf. They coordinate and implement the CR program assigned to their departments.