New Certification System Developed for ‘Recycled’ Clothing

The Control Union World Group is hoping to bring clarity to what constitutes “recycled” clothing with a new certification program that ranks garments based on their percentage of recycled content.

The Global Recycling Standard (GRS) is the newest certification program by Control Union, and will have three tiers for clothing and textiles.

  • Gold standard is for 95 percent and up recycled content
  • Silver certification is between 70 and 95 percent recycled content
  • Bronze recognition requires at least 30 percent recycled content

All participating clothing brands will be required to label garments with their certification. Control Union has already developed a system for certifying the presence of organic materials in clothing, which can be searched on its website.

So far, the program is available in Asian markets, and should be expanded soon globally. The Control Union World Group is one of several organizations dedicated to the eco-friendly standardization of consumer products.

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