#Sustainability

2021-04-01

For more transparency in the leather industry

The Sustainable Leather Foundation CIC and the OEKO-TEX® Association have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) under which the two parties will work collaboratively across a number of areas which will benefit the global leather industry.

The primary aim of this MoU is for the parties to work together in a collaborative and pre-competitive way that supports improvement in standards and promotes ethical, fair, and open dialogue for the common good of the leather industry. Specific objectives include:

identifying equivalency of standards for the purposes of certification in the leather industry, to reduce burden and duplication of effort on the leather manufacturers
identifying common areas of work for joint development to provide more harmonised sets of standards and expectations with the global leather value chain
working collaboratively on joint communications, meetings and events that help to support understanding and improvement in the leather industry and for consumers

Deborah Taylor, Managing Director of the Sustainable Leather Foundation, said: “We are delighted to be working with OEKO-TEX® within a formal MoU framework that allows us to support the leather industry more cohesively. OEKO-TEX® are well-recognised as leaders within the textile industry for their work, with over 25 years experience in certifying textile products that have been tested for harmful chemicals.

More recently their portfolio has expanded to include leather as well as textiles and we are looking forward to finding more connected ways to help brands and retailers provide peace of mind and a sense of trust to their consumers”.

Georg Dieners, Secretary General of OEKO-TEX®, commented: “We are very much looking forward to the collaboration with the Sustainable Leather Foundation. With its broad and collaborative approach, the SLF provides enhanced performance and credibility for the end-consumer and the environment. Only in a joint approach with multiple partners will we achieve meaningful impact towards a more transparent and sustainable future”.

OEKO-TEX® chooses TextileGenesis to advance digital traceability for organic cotton

OEKO-TEX® today announced a full collaboration with TextileGenesis, a Lectra company, to digitally trace and authenticate organic cotton, strengthening fraud prevention across the supply chain. This announcement follows a successful pilot and brings together OEKO-TEX®’s certification expertise and closed testing system with TextileGenesis’ digital traceability platform to deliver a secure, end-to-end solution for managing certified organic cotton flows.

OEKO-TEX® - New regulations 2025

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OEKO-TEX® Annual Report 2023/2024 mentions 50,000+ valid certifications

The international OEKO-TEX® association has continued to demonstrate positive business growth, highlighting the critical role of close collaboration and shared commitment in accelerating sustainable change. More than 35,000 textile and leather companies depend on the certificates and product labels issued by OEKO-TEX®’s independent testing institutes. OEKO-TEX® issued more than 50,000 certificates and labels between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024 – an increase of 22% over the previous financial year.

The Or Foundation, adidas, BESTSELLER, H&M Group, and Inditex launch Apparel Recovery Coalition, responding to impacts of post-consumer textile exports

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NEUMÜHLE launches mono-material hoodie designed for textile recycling

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