RITE - Brandix

1 RITE. Brandix Sustainability Repor t 2019 - 2020. The Brandix Group is one of the leading Apparel manufacturers in the South Asian region, with a vision to be THE Inspired Solution for Branded Clothing . Founded in Sri Lanka in 1969, we started our first factory in 1972, with just 10 sewing machines. Firmly anchored to our roots in Sri Lanka, we have since then expanded rapidly, extending our reach within the country as well as overseas, employing over 53,000 workers across 23 factories in Sri Lanka, 04 in India and 01 in Bangladesh. We believe that organizations such as Brandix are instrumental in addressing some of the pressing challenges facing our environment today. Our Sustainability journey commenced over a decade ago and since then, we continue to establish world-class benchmarks for other manufacturing organizations, consistently being at the forefront of efforts to adopt best practices for sustainable manufacturing. RITE.

2 THE RITE WAY THE Brandix PROMISE. Choosing to lead by example, Brandix has consistently been at the forefront of national and global efforts to adopt best practices for sustainable development. We firmly believe it is the RITE way to do business. The RITE. way is the Brandix Group's fundamental business ethos, where every one of our employees believes in, works towards, and ensures that their every action symbolizes the Group's core values of Respect, Integrity, Teamwork, and Excellence. These values are cascaded down and integrated into our Corporate Governance and Risk Management Frameworks, as well as our day-to-day workplace practices through our Sustainability Framework. Underpinned by this structured approach, we have gradually increased our focus in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals. B ra n d i x S u s ta i n a b i l i t y R e p o r t 2 0 1 9 - 2 0 2 0 1. CONTENTS. 3 Our Values 4 About Brandix 6 Thoughts from our CEO.

3 8 About this Report Sustainability Framework 10 Management Philosophy 11 Governance and Risk 13 Stakeholder Engagement 16 Material Topics Key Sustainability Pillars 18 Environmental Stewardship 37 Employment Equity and People Development 48 Health and Safety Impact Management 55 Supply chain Integration 58 Community Investment 64 Contribution to the SDG's 70 GRI Content Index 74 UN Global Compact - Communication on Progress 2 B ra n d i x S u s t a i n a b i l i t y R e p o r t 2 0 1 9 - 2 0 2 0. OUR VALUES. The Brandix values, or the RITE Way, is the Brandix Group's fundamental business ethos, where everyone of our employees believes in, works ensures that their every action symbolizes the Group's core values of Respect, Integrity, Teamwork and Excellence. The RITE values are embedded into the DNA of the organization and represent the corporate culture at Brandix . This is what we call the Brandix Way of Life. B ra n d i x S u s ta i n a b i l i t y R e p o r t 2 0 1 9 - 2 0 2 0 3.

4 ABOUT. Brandix . The Brandix Group was founded in 1969 in Sri Lanka as Over the last few years, Brandix has embarked on a a limited liability company and following the expansion bold journey to transform itself into a truly sustainable of its manufacturing presence to India and Bangladesh, manufacturer, remaining committed to transparency has since grown to become one of the leading Apparel in our business practices across human rights, labour manufacturers in the South Asian region. practices, the environment and our wider community. Today our global footprint consists of a total of 28 state-of- To further support our efforts, we continuously strive to the-art factories across Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh, benchmark key aspects of our operations against global collectively providing direct employment to over 53,000 partnerships with the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, World workers. Green Building Council (WGBC), International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the United Nations Development With our business on an accelerated growth trajectory Programme (UNDP), as well as through membership of the over the past decade, we have come to understand United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), Ethical Trading the importance of doing so sustainably.

5 Inspired by this Initiative (ETI) and the WRAP Principles. deep understanding, we now take a holistic approach to define our sustainable development based on the core areas material to our stakeholders, community and the environment. OUR BUSINESS. Apparel Non- Apparel (Backward Services Brandix Lanka Limited (BLL) Integration) Fortude (Pvt.) Limited Brandix Apparel Limited (BAL) Brandix Textiles Limited Brandix College of Clothing and Brandix Apparel Solutions Limited Teejay Lanka PLC Technology (BASL) Teejay India (Private) Limited Brandix India Apparel City (Private). Brandix Apparel India (Private) Teejay Lanka Prints (Private) Limited Limited Limited Brandix Casualwear Bangladesh Limited 4 B ra n d i x S u s t a i n a b i l i t y R e p o r t 2 0 1 9 - 2 0 2 0. FUNCTIONS. Fabric Apparel Apparel Fabric Apparel Knitting Manufacturing Washing and Printing Design Dyeing GARMENTS Casual Underwear PRODUCED Bottoms 317 Mn. Pieces PRODUCTS.

6 REVENUE Intimate Bras 782 Mn. USD Apparel Lounge &. Sleepwear Global Presence 1. Sri Lanka - Headquarters 2. India - Brandix India Apparel City 5 3. Bangladesh 6. 7. 4 Major Markets 8. 2 3 4. USA. 5. Europe 1. 6. UK. 7. China 8. Japan B ra n d i x S u s ta i n a b i l i t y R e p o r t 2 0 1 9 - 2 0 2 0 5. THOUGHTS FROM. OUR CEO. 6 B ra n d i x S u s t a i n a b i l i t y R e p o r t 2 0 1 9 - 2 0 2 0. While the 2019/20 financial year has witnessed Brandix consistently being at the forefront of efforts to adopt reach new heights in an effort to position ourselves as best practices for sustainable manufacturing. Our new a truly sustainable manufacturer, we cannot ignore the Sustainability strategy will enable Brandix to position itself unprecedented challenges encountered due to the to lead transformative change across the industry and ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Our Sustainability Report, region and I am proud to say that the results indicate however, continues to be an opportunity to provide a remarkable advancements.

7 Transparent and comprehensive overview of our strategies to drive sustainable business growth, whilst holistically In 2019, our Batticaloa factory was recognized as the improving our impact on the environment. world's first Net Zero Carbon Apparel manufacturing facility, as we move towards reducing our dependence on INSPIRED PEOPLE fossil fuels and driving a Net Zero Carbon Apparel sector Driven by our corporate DNA that stems from our RITE by 2023. Our solar PV project was expanded across the values, we have continued to engage and inspire our Group, with half of our energy demand today catered to employees to perform to their best of their ability, by by on-site renewable energy, resulting in a 21% reduction ensuring fair and ethical labour practices, enabling us in our greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. Concurrently, to foster a culture of Inspired People. During the year our zealous efforts in improving water efficiency has under review, we unveiled iConnect, a versatile and seen a 61% reduction in water savings.

8 More recently, we globally recognized HRIS aimed at further strengthening have also have taken the first tentative steps to explore transformation towards a seamless employee integrating the concept of material circularity into our engagement process. The system manages the entire value chain , as a means of reducing our annual waste employee lifecycle covering aspects of onboarding, footprint. performance management, succession and learning &. development. We continue to hold our communities close to our heart and have remained firmly committed to safeguarding Believing that collaboration for positive change is their wellbeing. Brandix is a member of the United Nations important to address the broader challenges facing the Global Compact (UNGC) and our report highlights the Apparel industry today, we partnered with several national alignment of our work to the Sustainable Development and international institutions to develop and maintain a Goals.

9 I am also pleased to state that our long-standing robust talent pipeline, via our initiative Shilpa and with the initiatives in both Sri Lanka and India continue to create a Brandix Academy. positive impact in the communities in which we operate. The safety of our workforce is number one priority and the GOING FORWARD. Occupational Health & Safety (OHS) focus was directed At Brandix , our values of RITE will continue to drive our towards creating an interdependent OHS culture across approach to foster a culture of Inspired People who in turn the Group, by responsibly managing risks and hazards. deliver Inspired Solutions through all that we do. Whilst I. am confident that our investments and the success of INSPIRED SOLUTIONS our strategies over the past few years have kept Brandix The fashion industry has experienced a noticeable shift on the right track, I must reiterate that our pursuit of in perception in recent times. From water and energy sustainability will remain firmly anchored to our vision of intensive apparel manufacturing, cotton production, becoming a truly sustainable manufacturer.

10 To chemical dyes used for textile production and the extensive waste generated by consumers due to the We understand that building strategic partnerships is key fast-fashion trend, the industry has come under intense to enabling positive change along our value chain . The scrutiny as the world's second highest polluting industry. active involvement of both brands and manufacturer, As statistics indicate, over the past 15 years, the average therefore, will inspire us further as we work towards a number of times a garment has been worn prior to being cleaner industry and a greener planet for the future. discarded has reduced by more than 36% and nearly 60%. of clothing is landfilled within a year of being created. As I believe our priorities to drive improvements in social sustainability continues to gather momentum among our and environmental performance across the Group will global stakeholders, retailers and apparel manufacturers remain material, even with the impact of the 2020/21.