Press Release

TÜV SÜD launches sustainable textile & footwear services to promote high-quality development of circular economy

TÜV SÜD recently launched a series of sustainable textile & footwear services to support brands, retailers and fabric developers to fulfill their commitment to a circular economy. The services cover recycled polyester (rPET) testing, recycled content certification (RCC), recycled content verification (RCV) and microfibre (microplastic) testing, which would boost the high-quality development of a sustainable circular economy in response to a growing global demand in sustainable development.

TÜV SÜD’s sustainable textile & footwear services - recycled polyester (rPET) testing, recycled content certification (RCC), recycled content verification (RCV) and microfibre (microplastic) testing

In the context of global sustainability, circular economy and carbon footprint reduction, TÜV SÜD, a technology pioneer in sustainable development, has always been committed to advancing sustainable development goals. It offers a range of sustainability testing, certification and verification services for consumer products such as textiles, footwear and apparel. It has helped many enterprises worldwide achieve their commitment to protecting the environment, green production and social responsibility. For instance, TÜV SÜD launched recycled polyester (rPET) testing service in 2021. This allows companies to technically and independently substantiate sustainability/circularity claims about the content of rPET in their products, and prevents them from violating laws that protect consumers against false or deceptive marketing claims. This service also applies to other consumer products such as toys, massage chairs that contain polyester fibres.

TÜV SÜD adopts four levels to indicate the concentration range of rPET in products, that is >75%, >25%-75%, >0.05%-25%, and <0.05%.  Test data shows that many samples actually have a lower rPET concentration than they have declared.  Expert team at TÜV SÜD has developed ways to improve this situation, including conducting traceability management in the supply chain, collecting target products’ information in the supply chain, and enhancing supply chain transparency, so that companies can better cope with complex supply chains and production processes,

TÜV SÜD also provides exclusive recycled content certification (RCC). A certification mark is issued for qualified products, with which companies can demonstrate their efforts and actions in contributing to a circular economy and convey confidence to customers. The service includes all-round certifications, including a whole-supply-chain factory documentation verification & on-site verification, recycled polyester identification & testing (only for recycled polyester materials), testing of high-risk restricted substances, and product certification factory inspection. As for chain of custody and traceability, TÜV SÜD offers recycled content verification (RCV) service. It has issued its world's first RCV statement to a company in Singapore in accordance with strict recycled material content verification standards.

To support companies deal with microfibre releases which pose serious threats to the environment and contaminate the food chain, TÜV SÜD softlines laboratories located in China, India, Bangladesh and Vietnam have launched testing services on microfibre. The service helps them know the amount of microfibres released by different fibres in different structures in a scientific and accurate way, thus enabling them to establish control measures to minimise the release of microfibre into the environment throughout the life cycle of products. It also helps them develop more sustainable products with less microfibre release.

By providing global manufacturers and brands with objective and unbiased third-party data, expert team at TÜV SÜD supports sustainability with their extensive experience and innovative approaches. TÜV SÜD will continue to work on sustainable development to help global enterprises practice the social responsibility of sustainable development and circular economy.