SUSTAINABLE CLOTHING GLOSSARY

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Organic cotton is cultivated without the use of pesticides, eliminating highly toxic substances from the environment. This method has lasting benefits for both people and the planet, making it more environmentally friendly compared to traditional cotton

Ensures that companies pay sustainable prices, which must not fall below market levels. This addresses the injustices of conventional trade, empowering the poorest and most vulnerable producers to improve their circumstances and gain more control over their lives.

Global Organic Textile Standard defines recognised criteria that ensure the organic status of textiles, covering every stage from raw material harvesting to environmentally and socially responsible manufacturing and labeling, providing credible assurance to consumers.

Perfluorochemicals are used in coatings and products that resist heat, oil, stains, grease, and water. They pose environmental and health risks as they can wash off from garments. Some PFCs are linked to reproductive harm, tumor growth, and hormone disruption.

WRAP acronym for Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production  promotes and advertises safe, lawful, humane, and ethical manufacturing across the globe. It certifies factories based on twelve principles of responsible apparel production.

Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit is a social audit evaluating sites based on standards for labor, health and safety, environment, and business ethics. Sedex focuses on these areas to assess responsible business practices and ensure social compliance.

It takes at least three years of farming without pesticides to classify cotton as organic. There are initiatives to support farmers in this transition period by allowing them to sell their crops as transitional cotton, providing economic support as they work towards organic certification

This dyeing process involves adding color directly to polyester chips before they are melted and extruded to form yarns. These yarns are then woven into fabrics. This method, which can be combined with recycled polyester, reduces the water and chemicals needed for traditional dyeing processes.

Oeko-Tex is a registered trademark representing product labels and certifications issued by the International Association for Research and Testing in the Field of Textile and Leather Ecology. The STD 100 ensures textiles are tested for harmful substances, offering high product safety and customer confidence.

Pre-consumer waste: This involves recycling cotton waste from manufacturing cutting rooms into new cotton for apparel production. The offcuts are sorted by color, shredded, and spun into yarn for making clothing. This process can use either organic or non-organic offcuts. Transforming waste materials into usable products is a significant sustainable practice.

Post-consumer waste: This involves processing cotton garments that have been discarded after use. Cotton waste is broken down by stripping machines into smaller pieces, requiring much less energy, water, and chemicals compared to using virgin cotton.

Recycled polyester is made by melting down existing plastic and re-spinning it into new polyester fibers. It includes materials that have not reached the end-user, such as waste from yarn spinning or garment cutting. Post-consumer waste includes items like plastic PET bottles, industrial fishing nets, and some used clothing, helping to divert plastic from landfills. Recycled polyester can be produced through mechanical or chemical processes (returning to the monomer or polymer phase before extruding yarn). The benefits include reducing landfill waste and having a carbon footprint per ton of fiber that is estimated to be 32% lower than virgin polyester.

amfori BSCI provides a Code of Conduct with a set of values and principles that help amfori members improve their own policies and practices, such as updating purchasing contracts to conduct business responsibly. These principles apply to all sectors worldwide and comply with international regulations (e.g., International Labour Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights).  Essentially this industry-driven initiative aims to monitor and assess workplace standards across the global supply chain, ensuring ethical practices including the clothing industry.