Today, climate change awareness and campaigning in general are boosting sustainability efforts in the textile industry. Promising developments and more investments are being made. The focus falls on supply chain sustainability, enabling consumers and companies to make responsible decisions to protect the planet.

TESTEX is a globally operating, independent Swiss testing and certification organisation with a focus on textile and leather testing. The organisation believes that everyone should keep working together as joint efforts to create the biggest change for sustainability.

TESTEX took part in the Fashion Summit 2019 from September 5 to 6 in Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The event brought together leading academics, key players from the fashion industry, NGOs, media, decision makers and leaders to achieve sustainable fashion in Asia.

The Swiss organisation thus delivered this key message in the summit. “Small improvements are important, and continuing the effort brings the industry closer to its goal of achieving big improvements,” highlighted Linda Wegelin, Group Market Development Manager, TESTEX AG.

She said, for example, the UN Sustainable Development Goal 12 (SDG 12), which includes responsible consumption and production, is encouraging companies to set targets in order to become more sustainable.

"We would like to say a big thank you to all the brands and associations who are striving to make the textile industry a better place,” she added.

MADE IN GREEN by OEKO-TEX^® makes production fair and traceable

In view of this, as a member institute of the OEKO-TEX^® Association and the official representative in China and HKSAR, TESTEX is planning to enhance the MADE IN GREEN by OEKO-TEX^® label.

“We plan to enhance the label with a lifecycle assessment (LCA) pilot project, whose goal is to determine the environmental hotspots of the entire product lifecycle at each stage of production,” Wegelin explained.

Building on TESTEX’s existing certification schemes, MADE IN GREEN by OEKO-TEX^®, is a label for textile products made with materials tested for harmful substances, made in environmentally friendly facilities and safe and socially responsible workplaces. It is also a tool for brands and retailers to promote their sustainability goals, and to offer the consumer full traceability of products.

According to Wegelin, in order to ensure the quality of certified products, regular site visits/audits, product control and validity checks are required. In addition, some international brands have already introduced the label, particularly in Europe & North America including Primark, Aldi, Macy’s and Big W. 

Commenting on the challenges in promoting the label, she said: “The most challenging part is to make brands understand that the effort is worth it. The supply chain is documented in one system which makes monitoring and improving easier whilst also making it as simple as possible for the consumer.”

She further revealed that TESTEX will continue to work on addressing all aspects of sustainability of a product’s entire life cycle (circular economy). Current projects include a STANDARD 100 certification for recycled textiles and one of TESTEX’s ongoing R&D focuses is sludge and wastewater development.