Bluesign Has Teamed Up with SCTI

Bluesign Has Teamed Up with SCTI In order to create a sustainable chemistry index that will serve as a uniform communication guide for chemical suppliers, manufacturers, brands, and NGOs, Bluesign has partnered with Sustainable Chemistry for the Textile Industry (SCTI^TM). By making it simpler for stakeholders to evaluate the sustainability of textile chemical products against the highest standards while protecting the intellectual property (IP) of participating chemical companies, the first-of-its-kind index aims to inspire change in the industry. To ensure continued investment in sustainable solutions, IP protection is essential. SCTI^TM is an alliance of leading chemical companies that strives to empower the textile and leather industries to apply sustainable, state-of-the-art chemistry solutions that protect factory workers, local communities, consumers and the environment. In order to assist businesses all along the textile supply chain in enhancing their sustainability performance, Bluesign will implement and manage the sustainable chemistry index as an independent authority. Chemical products, such as dyes and textile auxiliaries, are often characterized with the attribute of “free of a certain substance”. Rather than prioritizing ingredients only, the bluesign® SYSTEM already goes beyond this. The chemicals and the production site where they were created must meet certain criteria regarding environmental performance, occupational health and safety, and product stewardship performance to be bluesign® APPROVED. The sustainable chemistry index will be reserved for substances that offer transparency on a number of additional indicators including the chemical’s circularity viability, greenhouse gas emissions during production, and the source of the raw materials. The sustainable chemistry index will also require that the chemical's downstream use be optimized, which means that it promotes resource conservation in textile finishing, for example. Additionally, excellent corporate governance paired with well-defined environmental and social (ESG) goals will be a pre-condition. Dr. Wolfgang Anton Schumann, SCTI^TM Chairman, said: “Through its independent position, Bluesign has earned the industry’s trust to provide sustainable chemical solutions and impact reductions across the supply chain for the past two decades. This partnership exemplifies our organizations’ joint expertise and how collaboration creates solutions that can drive meaningful change across an industry to reduce impact on people and our planet.” Daniel Rüfenacht, Bluesign CEO, added: “SCTI^TM offers deep sustainability knowledge in the chemical industry. The new sustainable chemistry index will help the industry progress beyond current regulations and realize the EU Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability by providing textile chemical users a clear rating on a substance’s environmental and social impact to advance decision-making”. The mission of Bluesign and SCTI^TM's joint partnership, and specifically the sustainable chemistry index, is to drive transformational change through sustainable chemical solutions. A first step on this shared journey is to provide textile and apparel industry players with a verified inventory of sustainable chemical products.     source