#Sustainability

2024-08-01

End of transitional period for Green Button 1.0 recognized certification labels and newly recognized labels

August 1st 2024 marks the end of the transition period for Green Button 1.0 recognised labels. From this date, companies may only list new Green Button products that carry labels that are recognised for Green Button 2.0 at the manufacturing and wet process stages of the supply chain. The requirements for raw material extraction (fibres and materials) are subject to a transitional period until 31.07.2026. Only after this date will these requirements become binding.

A currently valid version of the list of recognised labels can always be found in the download area of the Grüner Knopf website. This list might be updated in the future. Most recently, two labels have successfully passed the benchmarking process and are thus now recognised as a certification label for production process requirements (meta-label approach) under Green Button 2.0:

Cradle to Cradle (C2C) Silver-Gold-Platinum: for wet processes

Fairtrade Textile Standard: for wet processes

This newly evaluated certification label complements the recognised certification labels published in the last months:

bluesign®PRODUCT:?For the recognition scope wet processes. For the recognition scope fibre and material use for the use of virgin polyester and down

Cotton Made in Africa (CmiA):?For the recognition scope fibre and material use for the use of cotton

Fairtrade Cotton: For the recognition scope fibre and material use for the use of cotton

Fairtrade Textile Standard: For the recognition scope manufacturing

Fairwear Foundation Good Status: For the recognition scope manufacturing

Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS): for manufacturing and wet processes and for the fibre and material production for the use of plant-based and animal fibres and for the use of man-made fibres with a proportion greater than 10% and less than 30% in the final product

Global Recycled Standard (GRS): For the recognition scope wet processes in combination with Oeko-Tex Standard 100 and for fibre and material use for the use of recycled man-made and plant-based fibres

Naturtextil IVN zertifiziert BEST: For the recognition scope fibre and material use for the use of plant-based and animal fibres

Organic Content Standard (OCS): For the recognition scope fibre and material use for the proof of plant-based and animal fibres as well as regenerated fibres

OEKO-TEX® MADE IN GREEN: For the recognition scope manufacturing and wet processes

OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100: For the recognition scope fibre and material use for the use of virgin polyester (product class 1-3) as well as for the use of recycled fibres and materials

OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100 „organic“: For the recognition scope fibre and material use for the use of organic cotton if "organic" is shown in the scope of the certificate (only possible until 1 April 2025)

OEKO-TEX® ORGANIC COTTON: For the recognition scope fibre and material use for the use of organic cotton

Recycled Claim Standard (RCS): For the recognition scope fibre and material use for the proof of recycled man-made and plant-based fibres

Responsible Down Standard (RDS): For the recognition scope fibre and material use for the use of down

Responsible Mohair Standard (RMS): For the recognition scope fibre and material use for the use of Mohair

Responsible Wool Standard (RWS): For the recognition scope fibre and material use for the use of Wool

SA8000: For the recognition scope manufacturing

All certification labels recognised for Green Button regarding the supply chain levels wet processing and manufacturing as well as fibre and material use can be found?here. The list will be continuously supplemented and updated. To understand which fibres and materials require which label, you must read the list in conjunction with the list of approved fibres and materials.

To meet the Green Button?requirements for production processes?and to be able to label products, companies must demonstrate recognised certification labels for all three areas (fibre and material use, wet processes, manufacturing). Moreover, companies must demonstrate compliance with the?requirements for corporate due diligence processes?within a Green Button audit.

Recognition of the aforementioned certification labels is the result of a recognition process outlined in this?fact sheet?as well as in?Green Button Standard 2.0: Process and Requirements for the Recognition of Certification Labels.?Newly recognised certification labels were assessed prior to their recognition to determine whether they met the content requirements of the Green Button Standard as well as the eligibility requirements, which include requirements for their credibility. The recognition of the certification labels issued by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development?(BMZ) is valid until the next revision of the Green Button. The recognition of the certification labels issued by the BMZ is valid until the next revision of the Green Button. Should the certification label itself undergo changes, it is to be reviewed in accordance with the Green Button Standard whether the recognition needs to be elicited in a new benchmarking.

Documents for download:

Overview recognised certification labels?(this list might be updated and added to)

https://gruener-knopf.de/media/926/download

List of approved fibres and materials?including guidance and recognised certification labels (this list might be updated and added to)

https://gruener-knopf.de/media/928/download

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