bluesign/SCTI
Seated from left: Wolfgang Anton Schumann, Chairman of SCTI and Kurt Schläpfer, Head of Customer Relation Management of Bluesign at the signing ceremony. Standing from left: Kin Keong Chan, Peter Waeber, Dennis Dalton, Thomas Schäfer, Rohit Aggarwal, Benoit Moutault, Marcos Furrer, Simon Collinson, Sung Yong Cho, Marilyn Chua, Ümit Yaldiz (Source: bluesign/SCTI)
Since its inception bluesign has been working with chemical suppliers and with the founding members of SCTI to improve products, ensure they are made more sustainably and meet strict requirements. bluesign currently has over 19,000 bluesign Approved chemicals that meet its criteria, and it will implement and manage the sustainable chemistry index as an independent authority with a holistic approach to help companies throughout the textile supply chain to improve their sustainability performance.
bluesign technologies ag, St. Gallen/Switzerland, and the alliance of leading chemical companies Sustainable Chemistry for the Textile Industry, SCTI, have teamed up to develop a sustainable chemistry index that will provide a standard communication guide for chemical suppliers, manufacturers, brands, and NGOs.
The first-of-its-kind index is intended to inspire change in the industry by making it easier for stakeholders to assess the sustainability of textile chemical products against the highest standards while safeguarding the intellectual property (IP) of participating chemical companies. IP protection is critical to ensuring ongoing investment in sustainable solutions.
Chemical products, such as dyes and textile auxiliaries, are often characterized by the attribute of being “free of a certain substance”. However, rather than prioritizing ingredients only, the new index will be reserved for substances that offer transparency on a number of additional indicators including:
- the chemical’s circularity viability
- greenhouse gas emissions released during production
- the source of the raw materials
- a requirement that the downstream use of the chemical is optimized
- excellent corporate governance paired with well-defined ESG goals
The sustainable chemistry index will provide a clear rating for each substance to help guide the industry towards a cleaner, safer, and more sustainable future.
