bluesign®

Tool Category	Website	Owner/Sponsor	Entity Type	Product Categories
Standards, Certifications & Labels	www.bluesign.com/	bluesign® Technologies AG	for-profit	Apparel/Footwear/Outdoor Industry; Furniture; Textiles

bluesign® is an independent textile industry standard. Its goal is to improve environmental, health and safety conditions as well as improve resource efficiency along the whole textile supply chain. The standard supports compliance with new national and international legislative standards and aims to do this without compromising functionality, quality, or design. It is used by raw material and component suppliers that manufacture yarns, dyes, and additives, as well as textile manufacturers. Brands can select bluesign® certified fabrics, textiles and accessories for use in their manufacturing processes.

What Is Evaluated?

Focus	Impacts
Chemicals Materials Products Companies	Ecological health Human health Social responsibility Materials efficiency Energy use

Description

The bluesign® standard brings together the entire textile manufacturing chain; all input streams are analyzed (from raw materials to chemical components to resources). Components are then evaluated according to their EHS impacts and placed into three categories:

A blue rating means that components, production processes, and technologies have met the criteria for the bluesign® standard and may be used for all applications;

A grey rating means that components, production processes, and technologies may be used under one or more pre-conditions following the Best Available Technology as defined in the EU Directive 96/61/EC (which minimizes pollution from various industrial sources throughout the European Union);

A black rating requires elimination from the manufacturing process.

In addition to criteria for the bluesign® standard, bluesign® also provides specific criteria for textile manufacturers, production sites, and chemical suppliers, and provides a bluesign® standard substances list (BSSL) that specifies the restrictions for consumer safety that are enforced by the bluesign® standard. Retailers using bluesign® approved fabric, textiles, and accessories can have the final product bluesign® safety certified.

Requirements

Chemical Suppliers

- provide detailed chemical and toxicological data

- on-site audit to verify the handling of chemicals and EHS management

Manufacturers

- provide EHS and general production data covering one year

- evaluation of inputs, production processes, EHS, outputs, and compliance

- implementation of action plan to comply with bluesign® criteria

- products can be certified after checking production recipes and performing spot tests of potential risks

Brands

- complete questionnaire on EHS and supply chain

- implementation of action plan to comply with bluesign® criteria

- work with supply chain to convert to bluesign® system

Re-screenings and re-audits are required every three years to ensure the bluesign® standard continues to be met.

Cost

Membership fee: An annual system partnership fee is required, depending on the type and size of the company. Certification costs depend on complexity of the factory/factories and kind and number of chemicals used.

Examples of Retailers That Use It

Patagonia, REI, North Face, Mountain Equipment Coop (MEC)

For More Information

bluesign® technologies ag: 

bluesign® technologies ag

Phone: +41 71 272 29 90

Fax: +41 71 272 29 99

info@bluesign.com