Eco Passport by Oeko-Tex officially launched Tuesday after select manufacturers successfully completed a six-month pilot phase.
The latest addition to the Swiss certification system’s portfolio of sustainable standards, Eco Passport is a two-step verification procedure by which manufacturers of textile processing chemicals and chemical compounds are able to confirm that their products meet the criteria for environmentally responsible production.
Based on customer and market feedback during the pilot, Oeko-Tex said it had modified the original Eco Passport concept to improve functionality. In particular, the workflow between applicants, testing institutes and the Zurich-based organization’s secretariat was refined and the certification and lab testing procedures were optimized.
• Initially, chemical compounds are checked against a comprehensive Manufacturing Restricted Substance List (MRSL) that incorporates the Oeko-Tex Standard 100 RSL and the STeP by Oeko-Tex MRSL, both of which are compliant with REACH (the European Union’s chemical industry regulations) and ZDHC (the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals program).
• Next, the textile chemicals, colorants, and auxiliaries are analyzed within a well-reasoned laboratory testing framework to ensure that they do not contain any unsafe contaminants.
Compounds that pass these two phases are granted the Eco Passport, which indicates that the certified textile chemical is safe to use in Oeko-Tex Standard 100 products and in STeP-certified facilities.
According to Oeko-Tex, chemicals that are certified to the Eco Passport standard protect consumers, textile industry workers and the environment from the potential dangers of harmful substances. For more information, visit oeko-tex.com.