#Textile chemistry

2024-05-23

Publication of the Commodity Chemicals Guide V1.0

In support of a holistic approach to sustainable chemical management, the ZDHC Foundation has published the Commodity Chemicals Guide V1.0. This guide builds towards ZDHC's 2030 goal by encouraging the fashion industry to evaluate sellers of commodity chemicals such as sodium sulphate, ammonia or bleach, based on standard criteria, as well as engage in responsible purchasing and storage of such chemicals for the protection of workers, communities and the environment.

ZDHC defines commodity chemicals as "single substances or chemical compounds whose chemical structure is well-known, have a single CAS number and their use is to create conditions or act as an aid in a process. Two commodity chemicals produced by different manufacturers can be the same and can be interchangeable. Commodity chemicals usually do not stay on the final article."

Commodity chemicals are within the scope of the ZDHC MRSL, but are excluded from the Performance Incheck Report. This is due to the challenge of engaging the commodity chemicals industry in the ZDHC Gateway and populating these products in the ZDHC Gateway database of ZDHC MRSL conformant products.

Commodity chemicals are low priced, and easily replaced with another similar product without any need for specific process change. They are not expected to remain on the finished article, but to be washed off in processing, putting the risk on wastewater and sludge quality. Being sold in pure form it is unlikely that they are a ZDHC MRSL intentional addition.

Objective

ZDHC has created this Commodity Chemicals Guide V1.0 to:

+ Provide a list of commodity chemicals that should be responsibly managed as part of the ZDHC input chemical management implementation.

+ Classify the ZDHC list of commodity chemicals into ‘virgin’ and ‘non-virgin’ chemicals for assessing ZDHC MRSL risks.

+ Advise on best practices to:

+++ Evaluate commodity chemical sellers for ZDHC MRSL risks as part of purchasing decisions by suppliers.

+++ Storage, handling and transportation precautions for specific commodity chemicals.

+ Details Root Cause Analysis (RCA) for ZDHC MRSL non-conformities in wastewater test reports as per the ZDHC Wastewater Guidelines.

Expectations

Brands are expected to share this guide with their supply chain, and request their suppliers to embed these best practices for managing commodity chemicals within their facilities.

Suppliers should familiarise themselves with this guide and implement purchasing decisions through commodity chemical vendor evaluation as well as best practices for storage and handling.

ZDHC will work with Signatory Brands to share this guide with their supply chain, requesting suppliers to embed the best practices for managing commodity chemicals within their facilities. Likewise, suppliers themselves are expected to familiarise themselves with this guide to implement best practices in evaluating commodity chemical vendors, as well as ensure safe storage and handling of the chemicals themselves.

Click the link below to view the PDF: Commodity Chemicals Guide V1.0

https://downloads.roadmaptozero.com/input/commodity-chemicals-guide

ALADIN paves the way for circular and demand-driven textile production in Europe

Textile production can be organized sustainably by utilizing short supply chains and preventing overproduction. This can already be achieved today by intelligently connecting and efficiently utilizing existing infrastructure. At the same time, production becomes circular when innovative technologies and materials are used that enable high-quality recycling. The ALADIN research project, launched in May 2026 and co-funded with five million euros under the EU Horizon Europe program, is creating the conditions for this.

Katharina Obergruber appointed to the Management Board of Sandler AG

The Supervisory Board of Sandler AG has appointed Katharina Obergruber to the company’s Management Board. Effective September 1, 2026, the Board will consist of Philipp Ebbinghaus (CEO), Dr. Ulrich Hornfeck (currently CCO, future COO), and Katharina Obergruber (CCO). Katharina Obergruber, currently Chief Sales Officer Hygiene and member of the Management Team of Sandler AG, will assume responsibility for all sales activities as Chief Commercial Officer. She will assume this role from Dr. Ulrich Hornfeck, who will focus primarily on production and supply chain topics.

Ence and ShareTex begin initial testing of the ATENEA innovation project to promote textile recycling in Spain

Ence and ShareTex are making progress on the Atenea R&D project, which aims to develop a complete value chain for textile recycling in Spain. Specifically, the goal of the ATENEA project—which is funded by the Center for Technological Development and Innovation (CDTI)—is to connect all the necessary stages for the recovery of textile waste, from collection and management, through recycling and transformation into new raw materials, to their incorporation into new textile products.

DePoly Inaugurates its Showcase Plant in Monthey Switzerland

What if used plastic bottles, PET packaging material and polyester textiles could become raw materials just as high performing as virgin resources? That is the ambition of DePoly, a circular materials company based in Sion, Switzerland which inaugurated its Showcase Plant in Monthey on July 6th & 7th. The first depolymerization facility of its kind and scale in Switzerland, this industrial Showcase Plant represents a major milestone in the company's growth and its journey toward commercialization.

DyStar releases FY2025 sustainability report, marking a new milestone towards its 2030 targets

DyStar, a leading specialty chemicals company with more than a century of expertise in product development and innovation, today announced the release of its FY2025 Sustainability Report, marking a significant milestone in its sustainability journey and reinforcing its commitment to long-term value creation.

SOKO presents low-impact denim finishing innovations at Denim PV Milan

SOKO will present a range of sustainable denim finishing technologies and collaborative projects at the upcoming Denim Première Vision Milan on 20–21 May in Milan. At booth G27 in Superstudio Più, the company will showcase new chemical solutions designed to combine fashionable denim effects with reduced environmental impact.

Commission clarifies rules on plastic bottles recycling

The European Commission today adopted new rules on recycling of single-use plastic beverage bottles made primarily of polyethylene terephthalate (PET bottles). These rules establish, for the first time, a methodology to calculate, verify and report chemically recycled content. This is part of the Commission’s December 2025 plastics package.

TERIS reaches milestone: Fraunhofer consortium develops new standards for tire analysis

In the “TERIS” project, the Fraunhofer institutes ICT, IGD, and IWM—led by the Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability LBF—have reached a decisive milestone. For the first time, the teams aim to generate, analyse, and predict tire wear in the laboratory in a standardized and practical manner. As part of this milestone, results are now available on reference abrasion, particle analysis, tribological models, AI-based surface analysis, a test bench concept, and methods for accelerated aging and VOC detection. The tire industry, testing services, and environmental agencies will in future benefit from reliable, rapid laboratory procedures for emissions assessment.