SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS

Our “360 Sustainability” strategy respects the well-being of the environment, humans and animals and covers the entire life cycle of a product, from raw materials through production to disposal after use.

According to it, we commit ourselves and demand that our partners respect human rights so that equality for workers is achieved. We also demand respect for animal rights. We demand that our subcontractors respect the environment and operate ecologically and commit to sustainable production practices with us.

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

At Bypias, we implement our environmental sustainability in all our company's operations. We use natural resources, energy and materials sparingly and efficiently.

In order to meet tightening environmental requirements, we are actively developing new materials in line with sustainable development and utilizing new environment friendly technologies so that our requirements for the efficient use of water as well as the proper treatment of wastewater and responsible waste disposal are met.

We monitor and systematically reduce the carbon footprint of our operations, and we demand the same from our manufacturers as well as our other subcontractors. We are involved in climate talks aimed at mitigating climate change.

CARBON FOOTPRINT

At Bypias, we implement our environmental sustainability plan in all our company's operations and use natural resources, energy and materials sparingly and efficiently. We monitor the carbon footprint of our operations. Through our climate change, we have been able to systematically reduce our CO2 emissions, both for our own operations and for our production chain.

PACKAGING AND TRANSPORT MATERIALS

To transport our products from the manufacturers to the warehouse, we use packaging materials that are completely reusable and recyclable. To reduce the amount of waste, we have introduced pallet transports, where the products are transported completely without packaging. These pallet transports are used, for example, for trade fair transports. In addition, we utilize the use of reusable nonwoven sacks to transport products between warehouse and stores.

We pack e-commerce deliveries in plastic bags made of renewable or recycled materials. Last year, we added marketing measures to encourage our e-commerce customers to order e-commerce deliveries to be picked up from our stores. This allows customers to try the clothes on before making a purchase decision. This has reduced the return percentage of products as well as the carbon footprint of mailing products.

In the stores, we pack the products in paper bags made of renewable or recycled material, in which the products are protected with protective paper made of renewable or recycled material.

With these measures, we have been able to reduce the use of packaging and transport materials while increasing the volume of our operations.

WASTE

We actively monitor the environmental impact of our waste.

Although the volume of our operations is growing rapidly, we aim to continuously reduce our waste and the environmental impact it causes. Through our actions, we have been able to effectively reduce the amount of our waste and the resulting CO2 emissions. We have challenged ourselves to develop new waste reduction measures. Some actions to mention;

• Our accounting is completely paperless.
• We reuse all the textile cutting waste for the production of hair donuts and other small products, for craftsmen to make a living and for kindergartens as craft materials.
• We direct all defective products and production batches as such for reuse to charity.

FURNITURE AND PRINTED MATERIALS

All furniture in our stores and all other furniture in our company's premises are made of recycled materials. All our company's printed products such as catalogs, labels, etc. are domestic. They are made from Finnish raw materials in Finnish printing houses.

CUSTOMER RESPONSIBILITY

We at Bypias make every effort to encourage our customers to be responsible and to reduce their environmental impact. We encourage our customers to extend the life of their clothes by maintaining and washing them in accordance with the care instructions. Our website has material descriptions and detailed product care instructions. All our clothes are resistant to water washing so that environmentally harmful dry cleaning is not required.

The consumer can also reduce the environmental impact of the clothing he or she buys,

e.g. using an eco-labeled and phosphate-free detergent and avoiding the use of a tumble dryer.

We encourage consumers who shop in our online store to order the items to our local stores, in which they can try the clothes on they have ordered before making a final purchase decision. Thereby, we avoid the back and forth mailing associated with exchanging products, while allowing customers to contribute to reducing the climate footprint associated with packaging and shipping products.

RE-USE AND RETURN

We maintain the BYPIAS Second Hand Facebook group, a second-hand marketplace, where consumers have the opportunity to recycle BYPIAS clothing that they no longer use.

SUSTAINABLE PRODUCT CHAIN

Bypias' production is sustainable and responsible throughout the line. This means that manufacturers do not use chemicals that are harmful to the environment and that the working conditions of manufacturers are safe, and the rights of their employees are respected.

We have long and lasting cooperative relationships with every manufacturer. BYPIAS garments are largely manufactured domestically and in the surrounding area in small factories. We have been cooperating with the manufacturers of Estonia since their establishment.

We have been involved in setting up the manufacturers for our linen products in Estonia, with which we have been cooperating since their establishment and this cooperation has continued uninterrupted ever since. Our knitted and tricot products are also sewn by an Estonian manufacturer, which we have been involved in setting up and with which our cooperation has continued ever since.

Estonian manufacturers have developed and grown with us. Together with them, we have agreed on rules that are in line with our ethical values and we follow their actions like our own. We monitor the activities of our Estonian manufacturers by meeting them all at least every other week.

In Italy, we have concentrated our production on a small limited number of northern Italian manufacturers, with whom we have established a long-standing partnership and whose activities are supervised by our local production manager. All our Italian manufacturers are SMETA-4-Pillar audited and have received no remarks in the evaluation of any aspect of ethics.

Cooperation with the Italian manufacturers has continued uninterrupted with each manufacturer since its inception.

MATERIALS

We know and monitor the origin of the raw materials used in our products, their cultivation and production processes to ensure that our products are produced in accordance with our ecological and ethical principles. We aim for the smallest possible carbon footprint in our production and use certified materials.

Linen

The core product of our BYPIAS brand is linen, which is made from raw material into yarn in France, a low-risk country. Our flax fiber comes from the EU and is European Flax certified. The yarn manufacturer belongs to the Masters of Linen organization, which guarantees e.g. the fact that the flax fiber in our products is GMO-free has not been produced using irrigation or chemicals that are harmful to the environment or health. It is completely degradable to nature.

The producers involved in the manufacture of our linen products each comply with the legislation of their own country. To ensure this, the entire production chain complies with the European Chemicals Regulation, REACH. It ensures that no harmful chemicals are used at any stage of production.

BYPIAS linen is made from yarn into fabric and from there into finished products in the nearby Baltic region. Bohemiana linen garments and Essentials linen knitwear are made in Italy.

Bamboo

The raw material of the BYPIAS-Bamboo collection is 93% bamboo, 7% elastane. Bamboo knitwear is a sustainable material that is made from yarn into a finished product in Estonia.

Bamboo is a fast-growing and organic reed plant. It regenerates naturally and does not require irrigation, fertilizers or pesticides. The bamboo plant binds carbon dioxide very efficiently and at the same time produces a lot of oxygen. Bamboo fiber decomposes and lands quickly.

We use OEKO-TEX Standard minimum 100 class 1 certified materials in the manufacture of our BYPIAS products. This ensures that the products do not contain harmful chemicals and are safe to use on clothing intended to come in direct contact with the skin.

Animal fibers

The merino wool, mohair, cashmere and alpaca fibers of our knitwear come mainly from New Zealand, where legislation on the treatment of all animals producing animal fibers, such as merino sheep and mohair and cashmere goats and alpacas, is strict. The painful mulesing procedure is prohibited. We have visited these farms in New Zealand and made sure that merino sheep, mohair and cashmere goats and alpacas have not been treated badly, but in all respects under ethical conditions.

In addition, the production of merino wool, mohair, cashmere and alpaca yarn manufacturers meets the requirements of OEKO-TEX Standard 100.

Other clothing materials

In addition to linen, the materials of Bohemiana and Perfect Jeans are mohair, silk, viscose, cotton, and their mixtures with each other and with synthetic fibers such as elastane and polyamide.

You can find out detailed information of the materials used in our products, as well as the care instructions for each material.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

At Bypias, social sustainability covers our own staff, as well as all the people we affect during the life cycle of our products, from raw materials to finished products all the way to their sale and use.

We carefully select the manufacturers of our products so that the working conditions in their production facilities are human and safe and that the rights of their employees are respected. We encourage our manufacturers and other subcontractors to price their products so that they receive such a good price for their products that they can guarantee their employees a living wage and other working conditions in accordance with our ethical guidelines. We have zero tolerance for child labor and forced labor, we do not accept illegal overtime and we do not compromise on safe working conditions. All our products are manufactured in production facilities with which we have been cooperating for a long time. Thanks to a long-lasting relationship with each manufacturer, it is easy for us to regularly monitor that the manufacturers comply with the mutually agreed regulations in accordance with our values. We focus our manufacturing on a limited number of subcontractors and demand similar activities in line with our values from all parties involved in the manufacture of our products.

Bypias offers an open work atmosphere where every member can make an impact. Our operations are overseen by AVI and we guarantee that our employees are legally protected, well compensated for the work they do and have safe and healthy working conditions. We treat our employees equally and thanks to our light hierarchy, communicating with our employees is easy and effortless.