NSF Expands Sustainable Certifications for Apparel, Footwear and Textile Industries

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – NSF, a global, independent organization that works to protect the environment and human health, is now an approved certification body for three additional Textile Exchange standards. NSF’s full portfolio of responsible textile certifications helps organizations demonstrate their commitment to sustainability, transparency and traceability.

As consumers continue to seek greater transparency in the products they purchase, NSF’s third-party validation of textile content claims helps support and protect brands and strengthen customer trust.

“We now offer a full range of sustainable third-party certifications including recycled and organic content, traceable down and responsible wool,” said Jenny Oorbeck, General Manager of Sustainability at NSF. “We apply NSF’s 70-plus years of certification expertise, global presence and quality to help the textile, footwear and apparel industries improve their sustainability, traceability and transparency.”

NSF’s full responsible textile certification portfolio now includes:

• Recycled Content – The Textile Exchange Recycled Claim Standard (RCS) verifies the presence and amount of recycled material in a final product through chain of custody verification. In addition, the Global Recycled Standard (GRS) verifies responsible social, environmental and chemical practices in the production of both finished and intermediate products containing recycled content. The standard covers processing, manufacturing, packaging, labeling, trading and distribution of all products made with a minimum of 20 percent recycled material.
• Organic Content – The Textile Exchange Organic Content Standard (OCS) provides third-party verification of organic material content in a product, addressing raw material verification throughout the harvest, processing and manufacturing activities.
• Responsible Wool – The Textile Exchange Responsible Wool Standard (RWS) establishes complete traceability of the wool supply chain and ensures that wool in garments and commercial products comes from a responsible source that respects animal welfare and follows enhanced land management practices.
• Traceable Down – Developed by NSF, the Global Traceable Down Standard (Global TDS) ensures that down in garments and other household and commercial products comes from a responsible source that respects animal welfare and can be transparently traced.

Textile Exchange’s Content Claim Standard (CCS) serves as the chain of custody foundation for the above content claim standards. The CCS verifies the presence and amount of raw material in a final product, allowing for transparent, consistent and comprehensive independent evaluation and verification of material content claims on products.

For more information on NSF and its sustainable textile certifications, please visit the Sustainable Textiles web page.

Editor’s Note: For media interviews, please contact Thomas Frey, APR at media@nsf.org or 734-214-6242.

About NSF: NSF (nsf.org) is a global independent organization that writes standards, and tests and certifies products for the food, water, health sciences and consumer goods industries to minimize adverse health effects and protect the environment. Founded in 1944, NSF is committed to protecting human health and safety worldwide. With clients in more than 170 countries, NSF is a Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center on Food Safety, Water Quality and Indoor Environment.

NSF’s sustainability certification, testing and consulting services can lower risk, increase growth and reduce costs, while instilling marketplace and investor confidence. Services include safer chemistry, responsible sourcing for food and textiles, landfill-free, climate services, sustainable product certification and e-waste and forestry verifications.