TAIANA certified production ISO 14001 The Life Cycle Perspective Standards, Certifications, Benchmarks

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TAIANA production ISO 14001 certified

The acronym ISO 14001 stands for the best known and internationally applied environmental management standard for an organization, setting voluntary certification requirements.

The environmental management system (EMS), which started up in 2017, already obtained the UNI EN ISO 14001 certification from their first year of operation on.

It is intended for any organization that wishes to manage its environmental responsibilities systematically, in such a way that it may contribute to:

  • Improving its environmental performance
  • Compliance with legislative and voluntary compliance obligations
  • Achieving their own environmental goals

For Tessitura Taiana Virgilio the field of application of its EMS is as follows:

“Design, production, and sale of fabrics for the clothing and sports world”.

 

See certificate [link]

The Life Cycle Perspective

The LCA Life-Cycle Assessment approach is a structured and standardized method on an international level that allows for the quantifying of potential impacts on the environment and on human health associated with goods or services rendered by them, starting from the respective consumption of resources and emissions.

In its traditional conception, it considers the entire life cycle of the system as one to be analyzed starting from the acquisition of raw materials up to the management for when the end is reached as something no longer useful, including the various phases from manufacturing to distribution onto usage: defined as the “from the cradle to the grave” approach.

The Tessitura Taiana Virgilio follows a Life Cycle Perspective approach.

Standards, Certifications, Benchmarks

REACH

REACH, officially known as Regulation (EC) n. 1907/2006ands.m.i. (subsequent amendments), andis the European Union regulation, dated December 18th, 2006, concerning the registration, evaluation, authorization, and restriction of chemical substances Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and restriction of Chemicals, from which the acronym REACH originates).

 

The regulation establishes rules for the European Chemicals Agency(ECHA), amends directive 1999/45 / EC and repeals regulation (EEC) n. 793/93 of the Council, and the regulation (CE) n. 1488/94 of the Commission, as well as Council Directive 76/769 / EEC and Commission directives 91/155 / EEC, 93/67 / EEC, 93/105 / EC and 2000/21 / EC. The main purpose of the regulation is to gain knowledge on the dangers and risks arising from existing chemicals (introduced on the market before September 1981) and new ones (after September 1981) and at the same time maintain and strengthen competitiveness and innovative capabilities of the European chemical industry.

 

As a mandatory rule, TAIANA is committed to complying with the provisions of the REACH Regulation.

OEKO-TEX

It is an independent certification system for all types of textile products that prove to be free of any substance potentially harmful to health, introduced in 1992, controlled by the International Association for Research and Testing in the Field of Textile Ecology.

An Oeko-Tex certified item must satisfy the required checks in all its parts. Certification and tests, in addition to sample inspections, are conducted by one of the approximately 75 Oeko-tex associated institutes, present in Europe and around the world. Substance controls are based on annually updated (RSL) criteria. The OEKO-TEX standard 100 certification mainly concerns clothing and household items, but not only.

Depending on the type of contact with skin, there are four product classes:

  • Class I: articles for infants and children under the age of 3 years
  • Class II: articles used in contact with the skin
  • Class III: articles not in contact with the skin
  • Class IV: fabrics for furniture for decorative purposes

 

A wide range of TAIANA products is OEKO-TEX Class II certified. See certificate [link].

ZDHC

The ZDHC program (Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals) was created in 2011 and aims to introduce improvements in the textile/clothing and footwear supply chains for companies that sign the commitment to reduce emissions of dangerous chemicals down to zero by 2020. To support this objective, a “Joint Roadmap” has been published and updated annually, which defines the path to take for achieving the “Zero Discharge” goal. The program is supported by the ZDHC Foundation and includes the collaboration among 22 signatory brands in the apparel and footwear sectors, and 24 value chain affiliates and 10 affiliates, including the Seri.Co. brand.

The ZDHC program identifies four key areas and two transversal areas which are crucial for the elimination of hazardous substances from the clothing and footwear industry. The four key areas are:

  • MRSL (Manufacturers' Restricted Substances List) and Conformance Guidance: establishes acceptable concentration limits for the chemicals used in production processes, and provides the tools and information necessary for the implementation of the ZDHC MRSL.
  • Wastewater quality: a thorough control of processes, wastewater treatment plants, and effective product management are the keys to minimizing different types of emissions (chemical, physical, and biological) in the environment.
  • Audit protocol: implemented to ensure consistency and transparency in audit protocol and data sharing. The protocol is supported by the CMS (Chemical Management System) guide manual and an Audit Tool Package. The protocol provides brands with a way to manage the chemicals in use, with the zero discharge objective in mind. The ZDHC audit protocol is in line with other models (SAC (Standard Advisory Council?), FEM (European Materials Handling Federation?), OIA (Outdoor Industry Association), GSCP (Global Supply Chain Planning?), to ensure implementation of a uniform control mode.
  • Research: there is a list of dangerous chemicals for which there are currently no alternatives available, and for which research is needed for them to be replaced. The development of the ZDHC Research List took place in collaboration with OIA (Outdoor Industry Association).

 

The two transversal areas are:

  • Data & Disclosure: to organize data on chemical substances in a standardized way, and share them through the ZDHC Chemical Registry, an online portal for data sharing, available since 2016.
  • Training: training to support the implementation of ZDHC standards, for all players in the value chain, through the adoption of an ambitious method of chemical management.

Tessitura Taiana Virgilio is carefully monitoring how the ZDHC protocol progresses and evolves.