How Sustainable is La Sportiva?
Average Sustainability Score
Excellent
La Sportiva is a big name in the hiking, running, climbing, and ski touring gear worlds, so it’s good to know that the brand is also making respectable progress toward reducing its environmental impact. In an effort to decrease its greenhouse gas emissions, La Sportiva was certified to the Climate Label (formerly Climate Neutral Certified) in 2023 and has maintained that certification ever since. However, it has made little progress toward implementing circularity programs, such as resale and recycling services, leaving room for improvement overall.
This sustainability analysis evaluates both product- and brand-level initiatives to capture the full scope of La Sportiva's efforts to reduce its environmental impact. Our research draws from La Sportiva's published sustainability data, third-party certifications (a cornerstone of our process), and correspondence with brand representatives. We have independently researched a dozen La Sportiva products to date, giving us a broad understanding of the brand’s use of low-impact materials, chemistry, and manufacturing practices.
You can explore our analyses of other outdoor brands, or use our advanced search to find products that align with your sustainability values.
Overall, La Sportiva earns an “Excellent” sustainability transparency rating. The brand produces an informative annual impact report, but it lacks some of the details found in the most thorough reports we’ve seen. Its public-facing sustainability webpages include good information, but do not cover all our criteria. La Sportiva’s product pages clearly label the percentage of recycled materials in each product, and products containing PFAS include a warning label. La Sportiva has also been generally responsive when we have asked for more information regarding its sustainability initiatives.
Recycled synthetic fabrics such as polyester and nylon have a smaller carbon footprint than their virgin counterparts, and as a result, many brands are transitioning to recycled materials to meet emissions-reduction goals. Recycled polyester and nylon are typically made from plastic water bottles, industrial waste, and discarded fishing nets, and are gaining popularity among outdoor brands. (Patagonia, for example, has phased out almost all virgin polyester and nylon.)
La Sportiva last reported its use of recycled materials in 2024; that year, around 80% of its synthetic apparel was made with at least 85% recycled fabric, up from around 75% in 2023. To increase traceability, all recycled fabric La Sportiva sources are certified to the Global Recycled Standard, a third-party certification program that verifies recycled content claims. Unfortunately, the brand doesn’t report on its total use of recycled materials in hard goods (like ski boots, footwear, and climbing shoes), but fewer brands use substantial recycled content in these categories. Notably, all the down insulation used in La Sportiva's products is made from recycled content, and 6% of the rubber used in its climbing shoes made in Italy comes from recycled content.
Bluesign-approved materials are manufactured in accordance with high chemical and worker safety standards. They’re also produced in factories prioritizing reduced water and energy consumption. Chemicals, yarns, and fabrics are traced throughout the entire supply chain, moving between system partners.
La Sportiva became a Bluesign System Partner in 2012, demonstrating its commitment to reducing the impact of its supply chain. While any brand can use Bluesign-approved materials to reduce its impact, system partners commit to using extensive amounts of such materials in their product lines. In summer 2025 (the most recent available data), just over 40% of La Sportiva’s fabrics were Bluesign approved (down from more than 55% of its materials in 2023). It also uses Bluesign-approved materials in select footwear, but doesn’t publish statistics detailing its total use.
While the majority of La Sportiva products are free of PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, it uses PFAS in select, high-performance mountaineering products (like the Nepal Evo GTX boot). This group of chemicals has long been recognized for its negative environmental and human health impacts, and as a result, most outdoor brands are phasing them out of their products. La Sportiva products that contain PFAS include a warning explaining that PFAS enhance water repellency, but are also known to persist in the environment.
The vast majority of outdoor brands eliminated PFAS from their products in alignment with California and New York legislation banning the chemical group’s use in textiles, effective 2025. Still, many of the brands that have already completed a full phase-out don’t make high-performance mountaineering boots, which need to be seriously waterproof to withstand the elements. As of 2026, 95% of La Sportiva products are PFAS free, falling just short of its goal to eliminate the chemicals by 2026. It plans to finish its phase-out by summer 2027.
Many brands purchase third-party-certified natural fibers to improve supply chain traceability, support animal welfare on supplier farms, and reduce chemical impacts associated with natural fiber production and processing. We commend La Sportiva for exclusively using Minardi Piume P.U.R.E. recycled down, certified to the Global Recycled Standard for traceability. Additionally, all of the brand’s leather comes from suppliers certified to Leather Working Group (LWG) standards, which ensure they meet high standards for chemical, water, and waste management. However, La Sportiva does not report which tier of LWG certification its suppliers hold (Gold, Silver, or Bronze).
Additionally, La Sportiva uses organic cotton in many products (which has a significantly smaller pesticide impact than conventional cotton), but unfortunately, the brand does not disclose the percentage of cotton that meets these standards. Finally, La Sportiva uses a small amount of wool, but it is not certified to the Responsible Wool Standard or similar programs to ensure traceability and animal welfare.
To reduce shipping across continents during manufacturing, approximately 60% of La Sportiva North America's products are manufactured at its Italian factories. In 2024, over 80% of La Sportiva climbing shoes, over 60% of mountain boots, and all ski mountaineering boots were made in Italy. The brand’s owned-and-operated factory in Ziano di Fiemme, Italy, employs approximately 200 people. Another 28% of its products are made in China, and the final 12% are made in Vietnam (in total, the brand uses six finished goods factories across these three countries). La Sportiva emphasizes that its country-of-origin labels indicate that a product was manufactured and assembled in the country indicated (for many brands, this isn’t the case).
La Sportiva also abides by the Outdoor Industry Association’s Fair Labor Code of Conduct. Depending on risk factors at each manufacturing partner, La Sportiva decides how much evaluation to do; these three levels include basic monitoring (which can be completed by the manufacturing partner), in-depth monitoring (which includes monitoring for health and safety, but not wages and hours), or a full audit (which is conducted by an independent party and covers health, safety, wage, and hours). When determining whether a brand meets our responsible manufacturing criteria, we look to third-party accreditation programs to conduct these factory audits, as they provide comprehensive, transparent, and unbiased data on a brand’s practices. La Sportiva only uses these third-party audits on a case-by-case basis.
While packaging typically accounts for only a small fraction of a brand’s total emissions, it makes up a significant component of total waste. To decrease waste and ensure responsible sourcing, brands use recycled and certified materials in their packaging. All La Sportiva cardboard boxes are Forest Stewardship Council-certified, meaning that wood and paper products are sourced from responsibly managed forests that protect forest ecosystems, reduce climate impacts, minimize chemical use, and support worker welfare and indigenous rights. La Sportiva reports that approximately 95% of the materials used in its footwear boxes are recycled, but we weren’t able to confirm whether its hang tags and other paper-based materials are also made from these low-impact materials. Additionally, since 2022, La Sportiva’s poly bags have been made from recycled plastic.
La Sportiva offers repair services for many products through its warranty program. The program operates on a repair-first basis, attempting repair before replacing broken or defective products. Apparel and ski hard goods are covered under a one-year warranty, which covers material defects, but not wear and tear. Additionally, La Sportiva publishes a list of authorized resolers and cobblers for resoling and repairing climbing shoes and mountain boots to help you keep them in use for longer. Still, we were unable to confirm the extent of repairs these cobblers can perform or whether other La Sportiva shoes (such as trail running shoes) can be repaired by the brand’s partners. In 2026, the brand opened a new store in Salt Lake City, which features its first North American Resoul Lab, where you can bring in your La Sportiva shoes to be resoled.
La Sportiva states that if a product is not covered under warranty (for example, if damage is caused by wear and tear), it may repair the product at a reasonable cost. Unfortunately, the brand does not describe the types of repairs it can fulfill, so we have a limited understanding of its capabilities. Other brands publish repair menus that outline the types of fixes they can perform, but unfortunately, La Sportiva does not, limiting our understanding of its capabilities.
Unlike many of the other brands we cover, La Sportiva does not offer a resale platform for used products. Examples of these platforms include Patagonia’s Worn Wear, Arc’teryx’s ReBird Resale, and Nemo’s resale partnership with Out&Back. Through these programs, you can return used products to the brand that made them and pass them along to other customers, keeping them in circulation. Additionally, La Sportiva also does not accept used gear for end-of-life recycling (as many brands do for some or all of their products). The brand has yet to announce any plans to implement programs like these in the future.
La Sportiva has been certified to the Climate Label (formerly Climate Neutral Certified) since 2023. To earn this certification, companies must measure their total emissions and pay into carbon reduction projects equivalent to their annual emissions. The brand set a target to reduce its Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 42% and its Scope 3 emissions by 51% per million dollars of revenue by 2030, compared to its 2022 baseline. Notably, La Sportiva set an intensity-based reduction target for its Scope 3 emissions (which account for around 98% of its total), rather than an absolute target, which decouples emissions from business growth. Unlike reduction targets set by other brands, its targets have not been verified by the Science Based Targets Initiative, an organization that ensures alignment with Paris Agreement warming thresholds.
In 2022, La Sportiva emitted almost 20,500 tCO2e, with a per-product carbon intensity (measured in kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent per unit of product) of 35.68 kg CO2e. In 2024 (the most recent available data), La Sportiva emitted 11,227 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (with the vast majority of emissions falling under Scope 3), representing a 45% reduction from its baseline measurement. It also reported a significant reduction in carbon intensity per product (17.59 kgCO2e in 2024 vs. 35.68 kg CO2e in 2022).
As of its last recertification to the Climate Label in 2025, La Sportiva has contributed $181,800 to climate solutions, with the vast majority of funding going to value chain abatement, or reducing emissions within its operations and supply chain (mostly clean energy generation). The remaining climate funding went toward net-zero consulting services. All in all, we’re impressed with La Sportiva’s progress toward reducing its emissions.
Annual impact reports provide insight into a brand’s sustainability targets and progress toward achieving them. These reports also provide transparency into brands’ supply chains, partnerships, and other topics in sustainability and responsible manufacturing. La Sportiva has published a comprehensive annual impact report detailing its progress on sustainability initiatives from 2016 to 2024 (with plans to release its 2025 report in Fall 2026). The brand’s 2024 report describes its use of low-impact materials, greenhouse gas emissions, and waste management, among other topics. Compared to the best impact reports we’ve read, some details are lacking, but the report covers most of our sustainability criteria.
La Sportiva is a member of the Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) Climate Action Corps, a group of brands working together to reduce the outdoor industry’s carbon footprint, with the aim of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. It also participates in the OIA’s Clean Chemistry and Materials Coalition, which aims to reduce the use of harmful chemicals and materials and improve supply chain transparency. In addition, since 2019, La Sportiva has been a member of 1% for the Planet, donating 1% of its annual sales to outdoor and environmental organizations. In the past, it has contributed to the American Alpine Club, The Access Fund, The Conservation Alliance, Protect Our Winters, and The European Outdoor Conservation Alliance. It also contributes to many other local organizations, ranging from Friends of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center to Red River Gorge Climbers’ Coalition.
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These products are solid, middle-of-the-pack options for sustainability. In general, they meet at least half of our sustainability criteria for their category.
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Better Trail Certified Process
The world of sustainability can be murky, but Better Trail is here to help bring clarity. We’ve exhaustively researched thousands of outdoor gear products, communicated with brands, and created a detailed and rigorous ratings system to bring it all together for you. At the pinnacle is Better Trail Certified.
Better Trail Certified products score 4 out of 5 or higher in our sustainability ratings and generally meet around 80% or more of our criteria. While it’s true that no product is 100% sustainable—all take resources to create and arrive at your doorstep—these products are industry leaders and among the most sustainable on the market.
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