The Sustainability Working Group has been moving forward quite quickly on various aspects within its remit.

A formal agreement has now been put in place and announced to the press regarding the OIA and the EOG working together. The aim is to facilitate cross-adoption throughout the industry and optimise stakeholder engagement. To this end, Anne Girard from Petzl, who is co-chair of the EOG’s Sustainability Working Group (SWG) and Jill Dumain from Patagonia, who is chair of the OIA Sustainability and Fair Labor Advisory Council will lead the coordination efforts between the two groups.

The End of Life Committee (part of the SWG) made a major presentation during OutDoor in the Summer and plans to have an End of Life Solution available for the whole industry by 2012, further information on this can be found on the Sustainability Working Group website here.

The Regulations and Standards Committee (part of the SWG) also made a valuable presentation during OutDoor, helping the industry to understand its commitment via the REACh directive and then in late October had its first full Committee meeting, bringing together a good cross section of trade bodies, and industry. A decision to collate available rules and regulations to act as a tool for the industry was made and is progressing. The website of the SWG also carries a Links area which acts as an open source tool for the industry providing links to major ongoing initiatives and sources of information.

And finally the relationship between FESI and the EOG continues to strengthen; FESI’s Committee for the Environment has chosen to focus on issues that are also part of the remit of the EOG’s Sustainability Working Group so collaboration between the two organisations should run smoothly.