There exist several third party certifications which we think every conscious consumer of fabric should be aware: Oeko-Tex, GOTS, C2C, GreenGuard and SMART. These certifications look beyond the fiber to the processing of the fabric. It’s quite common to encounter "organic cotton" fabrics – in other words, fabrics made of organic fibers. Or at least, the claim is that the fibers are organic.

Unless they are certified organic fibers, the claim is meaningless since there are no standards for calling a natural fiber "organic" since by definition (of, relating to, or derived from living organisms) they are organic. So it is important to ask who certified the fibers. Common certification agencies for fibers include:

• United States Department of Agriculture, National Organic Program
• Soil Association Certification Limited (SA Certification) is the UK’s largest organic certification body. It's also the only certification body linked to a committed charity, promoting organic food and farming.
• OneCert: OneCert provides organic certification worldwide. Certification and inspection programs include the US National Organic Program (NOP), European Organic Regulations (EU 2092/91), Quebec Organic Standards (CAQ), Japan Agricultural Standards (JAS), IFOAM, and Bio Suisse. Services include organic certification, organic inspection, export certificates, transaction certificates, on-line record keeping, answers to certification questions, and presentations of organic topics.
• Control Union (Skal): Control Union is a global one-stop-shop for a range of certification programs, including organic fibers. It certifies to the standards of
  • AB logo
  • Bio Suisse
  • Canada Organic Regime
  • EU organic
  • Japanese Agricultural Standards
  • Naturland inspections
  • NPOP
  • Polish EU organic
  • USDS/NOP
• The Institute for Marketcology (IMO): IMO is one of the first and most renowned international agencies for inspection, certification and quality assurance of eco-friendly products. Our world-wide activities are accredited by the Swiss Accreditation Service (SAS) according to EN 45011 (ISO 65), which is the international standard for certification. IMO offers certification for organic production and handling according the European Regulation (EU) Nr. 2092/91.

These certifications verify that the fibers have been grown and harvested to organic standards set forth by the various standards. But they do not deal in any way with the processing of the fibers into fabric.

Before giving a summary of the main points of each of the certifications which deal with fiber processing (i.e., weaving), it’s important to note that these are all expensive to attain; like organic designations in food, some farmers, for example, grow hemp sustainably (because they can). But because there isn’t a robust market yet for hemp they don’t want to spend the money for the certification to show it as organic. Cradle to Cradle and GreenGuard can cost up to $30,000 per product for certification, so when you look on the web sites for these certifications, you see only large, well established companies who can afford to pay the certification costs.

SUMMARY OF THE FIVE PROCESSING CERTIFICATIONS

GreenGuard

(www.greenguard.org) GreenGuard is not designed specifically for fabrics, but it is often advertised that a fabric is GreenGuard certified. GreenGuard has developed proprietary indoor air-quality pollutant guidelines based on government and industrial bodies. Those products that pay the testing fee and pass muster earn the right to call themselves GreenGuard certified. It was launched in 2000 by Atlanta-based for profit Air Quality Sciences (AQS), it is now a separate not for profit organization.

GreenGuard tests for the emitting chemicals coming from a product; that means it tests only for evaporating chemicals, chemicals which are a gas at room temperature. And that is all GreenGuard does – it does not look at the production of the fabric, or any social justice issues nor does it look at carbon footprint.

And GreenGuard, by measuring only emitting chemicals, is significant for what it does not measure:

• It does not measure any of the heavy metals (lead, mercury, copper, etc.)
• It does not measure PVC, which is a polymer and therefore not volatile
• It does not measure phthalates (except in the Children and Schools certification); phthalates are semi volatile, and don’t begin to evaporate until approximately 7 days after exposure to the air.

Oeko Tex

(www.oeko-tex.com) Founded to provide an objective and reliable product label for consumers and a uniform safety standard for the assessment of harmful substances in fabrics It’s aim is to ensure products are free of harmful substances

The Oeko-Tex Standard 100 excludes harmful substances or limits their use. The following parameters form part of the Oeko-Tex list of criteria:

• Specifically banned AZO dyes*
• Carcinogenic and allergy-inducing dyes
• Formaldehyde*
• Pesticides
• Chlorinated phenols
• Chloro-organic benzenes and toluenes
• Extractable heavy metals
• Colourfastness
• pH value
• Phthalates* in baby articles
• Organotin compounds (TBT and DBT
• Emission of volatile components
• Odour
• Biologically active products and flame-retardant products are regulated separately

Oeko Tex is a registered trademark. Make sure that the test number is quoted and the test institute is named as show on the logo above.

This certification does not look at the processing or manufacturing (whether wastewater is treated, for example, of renewable energy used to power the mill) – it is solely concerned with the final product. There are also no social requirements.

Cradle to Cradle

(www.c2ccertified) : primarily it certifies that the product uses environmentally safe and healthy materials – however the list of what is considered safe is proprietary so we have to take their word for it. In other words: they’re not transparent. C2C certifies just the product, without looking at how it is installed or used. It has an energy, water and social responsibility component.

 

Cradle to Cradle’s strength is in material chemistry. All ingredients in a product are identified down to 100 parts per million (ppm) and assessed according to 19 human and environmental health criteria:

C2C Human and Environmental Health Criteria
Human Health	Environmental Health
Carcinogenicity	Fish Toxicity
Endocrine Disruption	Algae Toxicity
Mutagenicity	Daphnia Toxicity
Reproductive Toxicity	Persistence/ Biodegradation
Teratogenicity	Bioaccumulation
Acute Toxicity	Ozone Depletion/ Climatic Relevance
Chronic Toxicity	Material Class Criteria
Irritation	Content of Organohalogens
Sensitization	Content of Heavy Metal

 

All ingredients are rated: green, yellow, red (which has been ascertained to be toxic) or grey (incomplete data, handled like a red). To achieve Gold and Platinum levels, a product cannot contain any ingredients classified as RED – unless there are no existing substitutes. MBDC developed this database and it is not available to outsiders.

All ingredients are classified as either a technical or biological nutrient: published C2C literature doesn’t define "recyclable" or "compostable" but MBDC uses European Union guidelines for biodegradability, and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines for recyclability. FTC guidelines require an established recycling pathway.

For the energy component, it focuses on the manufacturer’s use of renewable energy in production. Manufacturers need to use renewable energy for the product’s manufacture to achieve Gold certification, and for the energy used in the product’s entire supply chain to achieve Platinum. Renewable energy may be purchased on site or purchased thru energy credits.
Certification requires that companies work to preserve the quality and supply of water resources; implementation of these guidelines is required for Platinum.

Manufacturers must adopt corporate ethics and fair labor statements

However, it’s easy to confuse the ideals and philosophy of the founders with the actual requirements for certification. For example, a C2C Silver doesn’t guarantee that a product is free of all red ingredients; the only "knockout" chemical at Silver is PVC. There is no report card for consumers that details what a certified product does or does not include.

In addition, nutrients may not be returned to technical or biological cycles as described: the minimum requirement for certification is that a product be 67% recyclable or biodegradeable. But even a 100% recyclable product may not be able to return to either the technical or biological nutrient cycle.

MBDC certifies just the product, without looking at how it is installed or used. HYCRETE (an additive to make concrete waterproof) is an example of how misleading this can be – when used as intended, HYCRETE is not biodegradeable and cannot be recycled by any established process. Yet the product can degrade - if you accidentally spill a five gallon bucket into a local stream, it’s going to degrade and isn’t going to do any harm. Yet if used as intended it can neither biodegrade or be recycled.

C2C criteria refers only to the actual product, not manufacturing byproducts or the waste and energy use associated with resource extraction (such as is the case with polyester). Also the energy and water use standards focus on manufacturing, leaving out the energy and water consumption that results from use of the product.

EXAMPLE:Kynar (coating on Formawall panels): uses fluoropolymer in mfring process which releases PFOA (bioaccumulative and likely carcinogen). But the PFOA slips thru the C2C assessment since it’s not a product ingredient.

Finally, some say that C2C is not true third party certification, since MBDCs primary business is consulting with manufacturers, but rather a second party program.

IN SUMMARY: C2C is distinguished by inspiring ecological thinking, affiliation with respected thought leaders and idealism. But it is complicated by a lack of transparency and gaps in underlying criteria; lack of boundaries between the C2C standards developing body, C2C certification body and the MBDC consulting body.

They’re revising it now, but historically they have not looked at carbon footprint.

For more on C2C, see the article "Cradle to Cradle Certification: A Peek Inside MBDC’s Black Box", which appeared in Environmental Building News, February 2007

The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS)

(www.global-standard.com see also: www.organic-textile-services.com) is a collaborative effort between the United States Organic Trade Association, Soil Association, International Association Natural Textile Industry (IVN) and Japan Organic Cotton Association (JOCA) to codify textile standards so consumers and manufacturers have one certification – an important step toward harmonization and transparency in textile labels.Since work began on codifying the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) in 2002, it has evolved into the leading set of criteria in the field of organic textile processing.

GOTS aims to define a universal standard for organic fibers—from harvesting the raw materials, through environmentally and socially responsible manufacturing, to labeling—in order to provide credible assurance to consumers. Standards apply to fiber products, yarns, fabrics and clothes and cover the production, processing, manufacturing, packaging, labeling, exportation, importation and distribution of all natural fiber products, GOTS provides a continuous quality control and certification system from field to shelf. There are also social responsibility components (i.e., fair wages, no forced or bonded labor, etc.) All parameters are listed and accessible. The GOTS parameters for materials include prohibitions or restrictions on:

• Aromatic solvents
• Chloro Phenols (TCP, PCP)
• Complexing agents (APEO)
• Formaldehyde and short chain aldehydes
• Fungicides and biocides
• Halogenated solvents
• Heavy metals
• Ammonia treatment

 

There are detailed social criteria: no forced or bonded labor; workers are not required to lodge "deposits" or identity papers with employer; no child labor; workers are free to leave after reasonable notice; working conditions are safe and hygenic.

Wastewater treatment includes measurement and monitoring sediment quantities, waste water temperature and waste water pH. Wastewater from wet-processing sites (except greasy wool scouring sites and flax retting sites) must, when discharged to surface waters after treatment, have a COD content of less than 25 g/kg of textile output expressed as an annual average. If the effluent is treated on site and discharged directly to surface waters, it must also have an pH between 6 and 9 (unless the pH of the receiving water is outside this range) and a temperature of less than 40C° (unless the temperature of the receiving water is above this value). The COD/BOD ratio must be ≤ 5. The copper content must not exceed 0,5 mg/l.

The GOTS certification applies to only natural fibers, it cannot be applied to polyester or other synthetic fibers.

SMART Sustainable Products Standard

(www.sustainableproducts.com) : based on transparency, using consensus based metrics and life-cycle analysis. They also have in place rules which prevent industry trade association dominance so they can move substantially beyond the status quo. Renewable energy and conventional energy reduction are specified.

Environmental, social and economic performance criteria are defined and quantified In areas such as:

• Acid Rain
• Smog
• Climate change
• Habitat alteration
• Ozone depletion
• Fossil fuel depletion
• Criteria and indoor air pollutants
• Water pollutants water intake
• Solid and hazardous waste

The Sustainable Textile Standard incorporates procedures and protocols established in the following sustainability standards, thereby eliminating both redundancies and potential inconsistencies:

• Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Social Indicators http://www.globalreporting.org/GRIGuidelines/index.htm
• Stockholm Toxic Chemicals List http://www.chem.unep.ch/publications.htm
• Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) ISO General Principles Standard http://www.iso.ch/iso/en/CatalogueDetailPage.CatalogueDetail?CSNUMBER=23151
• General Product Life Cycle Diagram (Figure 1, p. 15)
• Federal Trade Commission Environmental Marketing Guides http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/greenguides.htm
• US Green Building Council LEED Rating System http://www.usgbc.org/LEED/existing/leed_existing.asp
• FSC Certified Wood Practices http://www.certifiedwood.org/
• Green-e Power http://www.resource-solutions.org/Green-epage.htm

SMART has a certification specifically for textiles called the Smart Sustainable Textile Standard. For textiles it requires 1300 chemicals be tracked and addressed; it is also transparent (i.e., nothing is proprietary or hidden in their requirements or in decision making). Confers multiple achievement levels.

Pharos Project

( http://www.pharosproject.net/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page) Pharos is planned to be a comprehensive evaluation of a products attributes, including embodied energy and water, materials use and hazards, and social justice; it is consumer based (i.e., users of the products would evaluate them). It is designed to evaluate green claims against verifiable data. It is not yet operational.