Playtex

May 19, 2023

Playtex is an American fashion retailer founded in 1947 by the International Latex Corporation (ILC) in Rochester, United States. The multinational clothing-retail company creates underwear and shapewear for women.

The fashion group Hanesbrands Inc. owns Playtex along with other clothing brands, including Hanes, Bonds, Champion, Bali, Wonderbra, Maidenform, Berlei, L'eggs, Just My Size, and Barely There.

Playtex is committed to making the world a more comfortable, livable, and inclusive place. Its sustainability approach focuses on areas addressed by the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals under three pillars: People, Planet and Product.

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Sustainability Rating: 4/10

Rating FAQ

Category: Clothing

For: Women

Type: Basics, underwear

Style: Casual

Quality: Low

Prices: $

Sizes: XS-2XL, 2-14 (US), 4-16 (UK), 34-44 (EU), 4-16 (AU)

Fabrics: Cotton, lyocell, modal, viscose, polyester, nylon, spandex, acrylic, wool

100% Organic: No

100% Vegan: No

Ethical & Fair: No

Recycling: Yes

Producing countries: not transparent enough

Certifications: GOTS, RCS, FSC, Oeko-Tex

Sustainability Practices

Playtex only uses a tiny proportion of sustainable materials, such as organic cotton, or recycled materials, such as recycled polyester.

Most of the fabrics it uses are either natural without relevant certifications, such as regular cotton or linen, or synthetic petroleum-based fibers such as polyester, nylon, acrylic, and more.

Playtex also uses a small proportion of semi-synthetic fibers or regenerated cellulosic fabrics such as Tencel lyocell, modal, and viscose.

Tencel is an eco-friendly fiber made with wood pulp from certified sustainable forests. But only a tiny proportion of the materials used by Playtex are environmentally friendly and sustainable.

Playtex doesn't publish a list of all its manufacturers and processing facilities on its corporate website. It makes more than 70% of its apparel in its own facilities or those of dedicated contractors.

The American clothing retailer doesn't show any labor certification standard that would ensure good working conditions, decent living wages, health, safety, and other crucial rights for workers in its supply chain.

Playtex has a code of conduct that applies to all its suppliers and subcontractors. It assesses compliance with its Code of Conduct by informal visits or third-party audits.

Playtex doesn't use exotic animal skin, hair, fur, or angora. But it uses wool to manufacture many of its clothing pieces.

Wool is an animal-derived material, cruel and unethical. It also harms the environment by producing greenhouse gases and waste. More sustainable alternatives exist.

Sustainability Goals

Playtex has committed to reducing its GHG emissions by 50% in Scope 1 and 2 and 30% in Scope 3 (in the Purchased Goods category), by 2030 compared to 2019.

Playtex will reduce water use in its owned operations by 25%. It also aims to meet the wastewater standards of the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals initiative by 2025.

100% of its cotton will be sustainable in 2030. And in 2030, 100% of the polyester it uses in its garments will be recycled or biodegradable polyester.

Playtex will achieve zero waste across its operations and support key suppliers to do the same by 2025.

It aspires to completely phase out single-use plastic by 2025.

Its goal is for its operations to be powered by 100% renewable electricity by 2030.

Buy Here

Discover Playtex's sustainable collections at Playtex.com.

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What We're Up Against

Multinational corporations overproducing cheap products in the poorest countries.
Huge factories with sweatshop-like conditions underpaying workers.
Media conglomerates promoting unethical, unsustainable products.
Bad actors encouraging overconsumption through oblivious behavior.
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