Thoughtfully crafted

Excluded from our Environmentally Preferred Material goals (and progress against those goals) are licensed footwear and apparel, apparel designed and marketed by NB’s regional design centers (Tokyo Design Center and Manchester Design Studio), NB direct to team, promotional products ordered through third party vendors, and global football apparel prior to 2022. Beginning in 2022, global football apparel was included, except NB Japan.

Polyester and leather are the two largest drivers of climate impact for New Balance. Preferred leather reduces environmental impacts across the supply chain, from farm to tannery. Recycled polyester helps reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

By 2030, source 100% preferred polyester, with 25% recycled fibers derived from textile waste.

By 2030, 100% of our leather will be chrome-free, regenerative, or be considered low emissions. Regenerative refers to leather sourced from ranches practicing regenerative agriculture. We consider leather to be low emissions if it has an LCA showing an emissions factor less than 18kgCO2e/kg material. In addition to these criteria, tanneries with an annual capacity over 1 million square feet must be LWG Gold-rated, and smaller tanneries with a capacity under 1 million square feet must be LWG audited.

By 2030, utilize 80% preferred midsole and 90% preferred outsole compounds. Our preferred midsole material is bio-based EVA from sugarcane and recycled midsole foam, and our preferred midsole processes are injection molded and direct molded. Our preferred outsole materials are recycled rubber and bio-based compounds.

By 2030, source 100% preferred polyester, with 25% recycled fibers derived from textile waste

By 2030, 100% of our leather will be chrome-free, regenerative, or be considered low emissions

As a member of Business Ambition for 1.5C, we have committed to set near-term company-wide emission reductions in line with climate science with the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi). SBTi approved our near-term greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction targets in 2023, verifying that our goals align with limiting global temperature rise to 1.5C across all scopes.

By 2030, reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 60% from 2019 baseline.

By 2030, reduce Scope 3 emissions by 50% from 2019 baseline.

Our scope 3 reduction goal applies to Category 1: Purchased Goods & Services and Category 4: Upstream Transportation & Distribution emissions, which typically account for 80%-90% of our total Scope 3 footprint.

By 2027, 100% of workers in our Tier 1 supply chain will have access to a workplace engagement program.

By 2027, 100,000 women workers in our Tier 1 supply chain will participate in training and education programs for personal and career development.