TEXTILES.ORG
For more than 20 years, OEKO-TEX® has been a reliable partner for textile companies committed to human-ecologically safe products and the implementation of more sustainable manufacturing. The newest addition to the product portfolio is Made in Green by OEKO-TEX®—a traceable product label that allows for communication throughout the supply chain all the way to the end-user. The label ensures that Made in Green textiles are not only tested for harmful substances (certified according to OEKO-TEX® Standard 100) but also sustainably produced in accordance with OEKO-TEX® guidelines.
The label can be awarded to any kind of textile product anywhere in the world at any stage of the textile supply chain. With the Made in Green label, brands, manufacturers and retailers have the chance to promote their responsible practices to customers in a clear way on point-of-sale material.
The added benefit of Made in Green is that each labeled product can be easily traced, thus offering new levels of transparency throughout the supply chain, all the way to the consumer. Every Made in Green label has a product ID and/or a QR code that shows where the product was manufactured. Depending on the data release granted by the supply chain, the labeling system can provide information on the production sites in which an article was manufactured, which production stage the individual factories belong to and in which country the manufacturing took place.
As proof that products with the Made in Green label are harmless to health, they must successfully pass a laboratory test based on the OEKO-TEX® Standard 100. Proof that the conditions in the participating production facilities are environmentally friendly and socially responsible is provided through an extensive assessment and a subsequent company audit in line with certification according to STeP by OEKO-TEX®.
For textile products that consumers buy at retail, the OEKO-TEX® guidelines for obtaining the Made in Green label are as follows:
1) Any single component that equals or exceeds 5% of the total weight of the textile product must be supplied by STeP by OEKO-TEX® certified production facilities. At least 85% of the weight of a single piece of textile must be supplied by STeP by OEKO-TEX® certified production facilities.
2) The general rule for the above mentioned criteria is that all the making up and wet/chemical processing facilities have to be STeP by OEKO-TEX® certified.
3) The product must be OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 certified.
For intermediate products sold within the supply chain, the label issuer must be STeP by OEKO-TEX® certified and fulfill all of the above mentioned criteria.
During the Made in Green by OEKO-TEX® launch phase, all critical making up and wet/chemical processing facilities must comply with the requirements stated above. Ultimately, in order to receive the Made in Green label, all facilities in the remaining processing stages (spinning, weaving and knitting mills, accessories, fiber production and the production of raw materials) will meet the requirements for STeP certification.
To support the launch of Made in Green, OEKO-TEX® introduced a consumer website that can be found at www.madeingreen.com. The site enables interested parties to discover more information about the label.
The site features the ability to track labeled textiles using a product ID and/or QR code. Visitors without an ID or QR code can use the demonstration function “Test without product ID.” This feature shows visitors the type of information available relating to the production facilities involved in the manufacturing of a particular article. A short video, details on the OEKO-TEX® guidelines for awarding the Made in Green label, a generic description of the individual production stages and information on the OEKO-TEX® Association, including international contact information, completes the online features. The new Made in Green website is currently available in English with incremental language versions planned for the near future.