■ ZDHC and OEKO-TEX® strengthen collaboration to boost industry's environmental performance.

ZDHC and OEKO-TEX strengthen collaboration to enhance industry's environmental performance. Recently, ZDHC and OEKO-TEX have signed a formal agreement, aiming to optimize industry guidelines and solutions through their collaborative efforts, supporting sustainable chemical management and clean chemistry. This partnership aims to drive sustainable development while meeting the needs of chemical formulators/ manufacturers, suppliers, brands, and retailers, with the goal of establishing unified approaches to strengthen the management of sustainable chemicals and products in the global value chain. Although OEKO-TEX has been collaborating with ZDHC for over five years, this formal agreement will bring additional benefits to the brands and their suppliers associated with both organizations.

OEKO-TEX Secretary General, Georg Dieners, stated, "The goal of the collaboration between ZDHC and OEKO-TEX is to share knowledge and experiences, promoting sustainable development by eliminating hazardous chemicals throughout the entire supply chain and reducing the environmental impact of the clothing, footwear, and textile industry."

The collaboration agreement provides the following framework for both parties

1、The OEKO-TEX ECO PASSPORT certification is recognized by ZDHC as meeting the requirements of MRSL 3.1. After chemical formulators register their relevant products in the ZDHC Gateway, they can showcase the OEKO-TEX ECO PASSPORT certificate for eco-friendly chemicals.

2、The collaboration will align with the upcoming ZDHC Chemicals to Zero Program, focusing on zero discharge of chemicals, and will also facilitate knowledge transfer between the technical teams of both organizations.

3、Both parties have reached a consensus that OEKO-TEX will actively promote ZDHC products and platforms such as Gateway, InCheck, and ClearStream, with the aim of minimizing duplication and fostering collaboration within the industry.

4、OEKO-TEX STeP customers will have easy access to ZDHC Gateway and the Supplier to Zero Program, enabling them to adequately prepare for OEKO-TEX STeP certification. The wastewater testing results from OEKO-TEX STeP can be directly used for ZDHC ClearStream reporting, streamlining customer requirements. This feature is planned to be launched by the end of summer 2023.

5、STeP-certified companies have already benefited from the collaboration between OEKO-TEX and The BHive, such as digitizing their chemical inventory. Through The BHive, businesses can perform ZDHC Performance InCheck and compliance checks for ZDHC Gateway, which is the largest database of chemicals compliant with ZDHC MRSL.

6、ZDHC and OEKO-TEX will introduce a data sharing program beneficial to businesses, aiming to enhance data quality and provide increased credibility for environmental impact assessments. The specific launch date for this program will be determined within the coming months.

Frank Michel, Executive Director of ZDHC Foundation, stated, "Our goal is to accelerate sustainable chemical management, responsible production, and safer materials together. This collaboration signifies an important step towards a sustainable future for the industry."

■ ZDHC MRSL Compliance Level Updates

ZDHC MRSL 3.1 Released

In November 2022, ZDHC released MRSL 3.0 along with its supporting document, MRSL Conformance Guidance 2.0, which garnered significant attention from stakeholders in the textile, apparel, and footwear industries. In March of this year, ZDHC updated MRSL to version 3.1, introducing notable changes such as additional testing remarks for chlorophenols and revised limits and descriptions for ortho-phenylphenol (OPP) in leather substrate chemicals.

The latest version of ZDHC MRSL Compliance Levels still consists of Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3. Level 1 involves product analysis testing, Level 2 entails on-site assessments based on management systems, and Level 3 focuses on Chemical Hazard Assessment (CHA) capabilities. The higher the level, the more stringent the scrutiny of chemical suppliers during audits.

■ OEKO-TEX meets the requirements of ZDHC MRSL 3.1 through the ECO PASSPORT certification for eco-friendly chemicals.

Since 2018, OEKO-TEX ECO PASSPORT has been recognized as a third-party certification system for ZDHC MRSL compliance, meeting the requirements of ZDHC Compliance Levels 1 to 3.

1、ZDHC Compliance Level 1: Meets the requirements of ECO PASSPORT for CAS number screening (RSL/MRSL), analytical verification, and self-assessment stages.

2、ZDHC Compliance Level 2: In addition to Level 1 requirements, completes the on-site audit stage of ECO PASSPORT.

3、ZDHC Compliance Level 3: In addition to Level 2 requirements, conducts additional Chemical Hazard Assessment (CHA) for chemical evaluation.