International sports brand Adidas recently announced that it will control dyes in clothing and auxiliary chemicals used in the manufacturing process. After completing a comprehensive inventory of process chemicals for its branded apparel, Adidas set the following goals:
Before the end of 2015:
– At least the dyes used by 50% in clothing must be approved by the Bluesign standard for environmentally friendly textiles. The Blue Mark standard regulates the production of textiles that must meet strict multi-faceted requirements for the environment, health and product safety.
– At least 10%’s process auxiliary chemicals must comply with Blue Mark specifications. Process auxiliary chemicals are chemicals that must be used in the manufacturing process, but have no specific impact on the function of the product itself.
Adidas pointed out that setting the requirement target for process auxiliary chemicals to 10% may seem very easy to achieve, but because these process auxiliary chemicals are usually used in the upstream suppliers of the supply chain around the world, these suppliers Most of them may not be aware of the standards represented by the blue logo. Therefore, Adidas still has a long way to go in terms of supplier chemical substance management and promotion.
In contrast, most dyes are supplied by major international manufacturers, and most of these manufacturers are already Blue Mark partners. Therefore, Adidas believes that supply chain manufacturers are required to replace dyes that are of high concern or harmful, and in It should not be difficult to achieve the goal of all 50% dyes being approved by the Blue Mark by the end of this year.
Adidas said that by cooperating with Blue Mark, it will focus on the input of chemical substances and strengthen the management of chemical substances in the manufacturing process of its suppliers. When becoming an Adidas supplier, manufacturers will be required to provide a detailed list of chemical substances and information related to the product manufacturing process. So far, suppliers have expressed their approval and support for such measures.
Through the chemical substance information provided by suppliers, Adidas will be able to better understand which potentially harmful chemicals are used in brand products and find opportunities for alternative safe chemical substances.
Detoxification of international brand products is the current international green trend. It is recommended that small and medium-sized enterprises in the domestic textile industry take stock of whether the chemical substances used in their products and processes are classified as hazardous substances, and replace them with safe chemicals as soon as possible to adapt to green products. trend.
For an introduction to the Bluesign system, please attach: flyer_bluesign-system_CN (Simplified Chinese)
Source:Chemical Watch (2015-03-23) (PIDC compilation) Attachment file:flyer_bluesign-system_CN.pdf
