WAKEFIELD – The latest edition of the 96-page Textile Standards & Legislation booklet which details over 72 environmental and social standards related to the textile and apparel industries is now in press.
Fully updated and revised since it was last published in 2018, it guides textile industry professionals through the minefield of standards, voluntary labels, regulation and industry tools related to environmental and social compliance.
With live updates to all the standards that we cover on our complimentary website at: www.textilestandards.com there have been several major revisions and additions since its last publication in 2018.
Updates to the Guide include details on the withdrawal of the Bangladesh Accord, which is now due to be covered by the Bangladesh RMG RSC after May 2020. It also details the introduction of the new voluntary initiative, Nirapon, which includes member brands formerly signed up to the old Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety.
Meanwhile, the Guide includes details on the new Responsible Mohair Standard from Textile Exchange launched in April 2020, along with new updates to the Responsible Wool Standard. The Australian National Wool Declaration is documented for the first time, which completes a trio of new efforts on animal welfare and land use in the wool industry.
Other additions to the Guide include the details of the new Grüner Knopf sustainability standard for textiles run by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). This label is allowed to be shown on garments at point of sale for textiles that have passed certain social and ecological standards set by the German Ministry.
The Guide also gives details on significant criteria updates to the Global Organic Textile standard (GOTS), which was updated to version 6.0 and released in February 2020 along with updates to Oeko-Tex and bluesign standards which also took place recently.
You can sign up here to receive a copy of the printed Guide.
On chemical management, we’ve added the Oeko-Tex Detox to Zero standard and looked at how the Roadmap to Zero from the ZDHC Foundation has evolved, including its new plans to tackle air emissions and the man-made cellulosic fibre sector.
There is also a progress update on the Higg Index, which now includes a new Brand and Retail module to allows users to measure the impact of individual products they sell in their stores.
This year we’ve once again teamed up with long-time partners on this project Messe Frankfurt, the Sustainable Apparel Coalition and the European Outdoor Group who have supported this unique project.
Subscribers can also visit our fully searchable website at: www.textilestandards.com to see further details of all these standards online with links to the relevant in-depth documents.
The printed copy is out next week – limited copies available.
