California Apparel News

The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) has been expanded to include certain performance fibers and finishes, paving the way to make more activewear GOTScertified.

The International Working Group (IWG) of GOTS recently released its organic fiber–processing Version 3, which includes some key changes related to man-made fibers and finishes.

Fabrics made with polyester can be GOTS-certified now— provided the polyester is made from post-consumer recycled material. Also, polypropylene can be used as an “additional fiber material,” according to North America GOTS representative Sandra Marquardt. GOTS also added more material options for accessories makers.

Version 3 reverses a previous ban on chemical fiber finishes. GOTS now allows most fabric finishes provided they meet GOTS’ strict general toxicity criteria.

GOTS Version 3 also includes water- and energy-reduction requirements and social-compliance management plans to ensure certain social-compliance goals are met.

The organization surveyed organizations representing organic production, textile processing and social criteria to create “strict verifiable environmental and social criteria” that covers “the entire apparel and home textile processing chain (including spinning, knitting, weaving, dyeing, finishing, manufacturing and trading),” according to a GOTS release.

GOTS also now bans garment-finishing methods that are “considered harmful to workers [such as denim sand blasting],” according to Marquardt.

“The changes in Version 3 should enable suppliers to develop and offer GOTS-certified apparel and home textile products with performance properties that are expected by consumers yet meet the demanding—and even tightened— chemical input toxicity criteria put in place to protect workers and the environment,” said Marcus Bruegel, GOTS technical director. “Such practical requirements are technically achievable even in large-scale industrial textile production and for mass-market brands and retailers.”

GOTS already bans the use of genetically modified organisms and hazardous chemicals such as azo dyes and formaldehyde and has strict waste water–treatment requirements. The organization also bans child labor and requires companies pay living wages.

In order for a fabric to carry the label grade “organic,” at least 95 percent of the fibers must be certified organic. Fabrics with at least 70 percent organic fiber content can carry the label grade “made with organic.”

GOTS was established in 2006. The organization released its first guidelines in 2008.

By the end of 2010, there were about 1,500 companies working out of 2,754 facilities in 54 countries around the world that were GOTS-certified, according to the organization’s public database.

India, Turkey, China, Pakistan and South Korea have the largest number of GOTS-certified facilities, according to the database, which lists the United States as 15th in its top-20 list. Five of the 16 GOTS-certified facilities in the United States are based in California: Econscious, Under the Nile, Acme Felt Works, Organic Mattresses and Woolgatherer Carding Mill.

Since its launch in early 2010, the GOTS database has received more than 120,000 inquiries, according to GOTS. Among the companies listed in the database are nearly 400 dyeing facilities; more than 200 skinning, knitting and weaving mills; and about 140 printing and manufacturing facilities.

The GOTS IWG is composed of several international associations, the Organic Trade Association in the United States, the Japan Organic Cotton Association in Japan,the International Association Natural Textile Industry in Germany and the Soil Association in the United Kingdom.

For more information on GOTS, visit www.global-standard.org. —Alison A. Nieder