Oberalp Group Releases 2021 Sustainability Report

August 23, 2022

North American Initiatives Include Marshall Fire Relief and Upcycling Materials

Boulder, CO (August 2022) /OUTDOOR SPORTSWIRE/ – The Oberalp Group, which owns SALEWA, DYNAFIT, POMOCA, WILD COUNTRY, EVOLV and LaMUNT, unveiled its 2021 sustainability report and reaffirmed its commitment to a unique and comprehensive strategy focused on employee wellness, safe factory conditions, philanthropy, and environmental sustainability.

The report, entitled Contribute 2021, also highlighted the company’s focus on initiatives in North America, including aid provided to help those affected by devastating wildfires in Colorado, support for a non-profit clothing organization in Tennessee, and increased attention to repurposing its packaging materials for continued use via a process called Upcycling.

Click here to view the full report.

The Oberalp Group’s sustainability strategy is divided into five focus areas under two main categories; Empowering People and Engineering Gear. The company is committed to the wellbeing and professional growth of its workforce, ensuring safe and fair working conditions, giving back to the communities where employees work and live, providing sustainable and innovative products and working towards circularity, efficiency and traceability of its products with minimal impact on people and the planet.

For the first time in the company’s history, the Oberalp Group’s 2021 sustainability report was depicted from the point of view of its various employees, giving more than 60 employees the chance to speak and illustrate stories of multiple initiatives that the Oberalp Group pushed in 2021. Those initiatives included new recycling procedures of Cashmere and Polyester, inclusive climbing projects, e-mobility, and social projects.

“For the first time, this report was depicted from the point of view of our employees. A company can only act responsibly if everyone starts with themselves and their own area of responsibility,” Alexandra Letts, Sustainability Manager at Oberalp, says. For their more than 900 employees worldwide, the group has summarized this in the title of the report “Contribute”. “We want to establish our ecological and social responsibility as a value that is lived and shared,” Oberalp CEO Christoph Engl adds.

Among those projects was the Oberalp Group’s support for those affected by the Marshall Fire, the most destructive wildfire in Colorado history. On Dec. 30, the fire tore through the surrounding towns outside of Boulder, Colo., and destroyed over 1000 homes. The Oberalp Group partnered with other outdoor brands as part of “The Phoenix Project” and donated apparel and gear that were distributed to qualified and registered families and fire victims at a facility just across the street from the Oberalp Group’s office in Boulder. More than 500 families received assistance via the project.

The Oberalp Group also supported the Nashville-based non-profit organization Soles4Souls, which collects shoe and clothing donations and then distributes the donated items to various programs around the world to help those in need. The Oberalp Group donated approximately 400 pairs of shoes in 2021.

The Oberalp Group also continued its focus on the process of Upcycling, a process it began two years ago with a focus on saving marketing materials to re-purpose them instead of throwing them away. Working with Colorado company Ecologic, the Oberalp Group had these materials upcycled into pouches that can be used as wallets, glasses cases, pencil holders. The company then handed the pouches out at tradeshows.

“The Oberalp Group believes firmly that sustainability is about how each of us chooses to do things every day. And that’s especially true when it comes to the projects spearheaded in our North American market,” said Drew Saunders, General Manager of Oberalp North America. “Our employees love the outdoors and the opportunities this world provides for them to explore and seek new paths, and they also recognize it is up to all of us to live sustainably and preserve what we have. None of us is perfectly sustainable, but together we can contribute to a more sustainable way of working and living.”

About The Oberalp Group

The Oberalp Group is a family-owned business based in Bolzano, Italy, that employs almost 700 people worldwide. Oberalp’s North American subsidiary, based in Boulder, CO, runs the sales, operations, marketing, distribution, and service for the Group’s brands in the US and Canada.

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