Industry News
OEKO-TEX New Regulations 2022
At the 2021 World Climate Conference in Glasgow, representatives of the textile industry presented a more ambitious version of the UN Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action. In the updated charter, more than 130 participating companies pledged their commitment to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius — a goal of the Paris Climate Agreement. In turn, the textile industry has set the target of reducing carbon emissions by a minimum of 30% by 2030.
The carbon- and water-intensive manufacturing processes in the textile industry hold great potential for improvement but the large-scale challenge requires action beyond voluntary initiatives.
OEKO-TEX supports action
To achieve the industry’s 2030 goal, companies need reliable data. To promote progress and data exchange along the global supply chain, OEKO-TEX has launched the Impact Calculator. The tool measures the carbon and water footprint of each process step, the overall process, and one kilogram of material/product. “Transparency is the decisive factor to measure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and water consumption in supply chains“ explains Secretary General Georg Dieners. “Providing tangible solutions for industry’s challenges is the guiding principle behind OEKO-TEX’s 30 years of commitment to companies and consumers. OEKO-TEX continues to develop scientific solutions and digital systems for our customers to manage processes in terms of environmental and social impact. Embedding criteria for CO2 emissions and water consumption is a logical step toward even more transparency.”
Lifecycle assessment solutionOEKO-TEX recognized the need for action and started the development of a life cycle assessment tool in 2020. Now, both carbon and water footprint calculations are integrated into the STeP by OEKO-TEX facility certification. Thus, the certification enables individual facilities to:
- Identify the largest carbon and water impacts by materials used or produced, as well as by production processes.
- Take action to improve operations and meet reduction targets.-Share carbon and water footprint data with customers, investors, business partners, and other stakeholders.