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#Sustainability

Celebrating International Day of Families with OEKO-TEX®

Families come in many forms. The United Nations created International Day of Families nearly 30 years ago to promote awareness of issues affecting families. On May 15 and every day, we celebrate all families by helping them make safer, more sustainable choices.

Families are in constant contact with some form of apparel or textile product. Between 4,000 and 8,000 individual chemicals enter factories in countless formulations. They exit on the products or as waste that can negatively impact the environment. 

While consumers are conscious of the hazards associated with ingesting chemicals, they have been less concerned with the chemicals their families contact through clothes and home goods. Chemicals are present in everything from their towels, bed linens, pajamas, and intimate apparel. But that is changing. And every purchase and choice we make is an opportunity to prioritize safety.

The concern goes beyond our own homes. Chemicals used in textile production pollutes rivers, oceans, wildlife and horticulture within miles of processing facilities. For example, textile dying is the second largest polluter of water globally. The fashion industry produces 20 percent of global wastewater, according to the UN.

That's where our labels come in. OEKO-TEX® tests for harmful substances and certifies sustainable and fair manufacturing practices to ensure products are safer for human health and the environment.



STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® is one of the world's best-known labels for textiles tested for harmful substances. The label certifies that every component of the product from the fabric to the buttons has been tested for up to 350 toxic chemicals. The MADE IN GREEN by OEKO-TEX® label means a product is tested for harmful substances and comes from a facility that uses environmentally friendly production processes. The label covers the use of chemicals to responsible handling of wastewater. Certified suppliers must also improve working conditions and prioritize health and safety protection for workers.

Limiting chemicals in our products helps families, workers, and our collective future. This International Day of Families, we can ensure a brighter future for all families. OEKO-TEX® labels can help.



More News from Oeko-Tex® Association

#Sustainability

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.

#Sustainability

OEKO-TEX® - New regulations 2025

Fostering trust within the textile and leather industry remains the mission of OEKO-TEX®. Since trust relies on consistently high standards, the OEKO-TEX® Association has released the updated testing criteria, limit values and guidelines for its certifications, based on the latest scientific research and legal developments.

#Sustainability

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.

More News on Sustainability

#Research & Development

180 years of TESTEX: From Zurich silk testing to global certification

For 180 years, TESTEX has developed alongside the textile industry while maintaining the same underlying purpose: creating trust through independent and reliable measurement. Founded in Zurich in 1846 as the Zurich Silk Conditioning Institute, TESTEX has grown from a local institution serving the silk trade into an international Swiss testing and certification institute for textiles and leather.

#Sustainability

Cascale launches member-led process to shape 2030 strategy

Cascale has launched a member-led process to define the industry alliance’s strategic direction for the next decade. At the Cascale Annual Meeting 2026 in Athens, CEO Ying McGuire announced that members will contribute to an industry system map that will inform Cascale’s 10-year vision, its 2030 strategy and priorities for 2027. The new strategy is scheduled to be finalized in December.

#Sustainability

Jeanologia Sustainability Report highlights environmental impact of textile technologies

Jeanologia has published its Sustainability Report 2025, reporting a 13.64% reduction in its own carbon footprint and quantifying the environmental impact associated with the use of its technologies across the global textile industry. According to the company’s calculations, their use avoided the pollution of 21.52 million m³ of water and emissions of approximately 103,530 tonnes of CO₂ compared with conventional textile finishing processes.

#Sustainability

Global Standards announce launch of a new textile processing standard

The 14th September 2026 marks the public launch of the Global Responsible Textile Standard (GRTS), a new standard for the processing of textiles made from fibres certified to third-party standards recognised by GRTS and covering a broad range of plant, animal, synthetic, man-made cellulosic and recycled fibres.

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#Associations

HeiQ & Archroma and Lenzing & Armedangels win ITMF International Collaboration Awards 2026

The International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) has named two industry partnerships as winners of the ITMF International Collaboration Awards 2026. The awards go to collaborations between HeiQ and Archroma as well as Lenzing and Armedangels, highlighting joint approaches to innovation and sustainability across different parts of the textile value chain.

#Recycling / Circular Economy

Moving Advanced Recycling from Innovation to Implementation

The Advanced Recycling Conference 2026 explores technologies, markets, financing and scale-up of innovative recycling solutions for waste streams including mixed plastic waste, textiles and PVC. Europe’s chemical and materials sector faces growing pressure to close carbon loops, strengthen raw-material safety and resilience and meet increasingly ambitious EU recycling targets. Against this backdrop, the Advanced Recycling Conference (ARC) will bring together industry leaders, technology providers, researchers, innovators and policy-makers on 17–18 November 2026 in Cologne, Germany.

#Associations

German textile industry and retailers form alliance to shape textile EPR system

Germany’s textile and fashion industry and retail sector have joined forces to establish the “Alliance for Textile Circularity” (Allianz für textile Kreisläufe). Initiated by the German Textile and Fashion Industry Association (Gesamtverband textil+mode) and the German Retail Federation (HDE), the alliance aims to contribute industry expertise to the development of Germany’s future Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system for textiles and footwear.

#Functional Fabrics

PERFORMANCE DAYS introduces Digital Design Journey with CLO and VIZOO

PERFORMANCE DAYS will introduce a new Digital Design Journey at its upcoming edition in Munich, connecting physical fabric sourcing with 3D product development. Supported by CLO and VIZOO, the installation will demonstrate how real performance fabrics can be digitized and incorporated into virtual garment development workflows.

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