Wool changes
The wool textile criteria have been tightened with new limits for the chemical oxygen demand (COD) of process water prior to any on-site treatment as well as final COD before discharge of effluent. In particular the European Commission is also keen to promote a flexible approach to resource efficiency in the wool sector.
So in order to be labelled with the ‘Eco-Flower’ wool scourers will need to demonstrate they have recovered value from waste grease, fibre, suint or sludge either for sale as a feedstock for the production of compost or the use of these by-products in other products such as building materials.
Elsewhere for man-made cellulose fibres a minimum 25 per cent of pulp used to make the fibres shall be manufactured from wood that has been grown according to the principles of sustainable forestry management and bleached without the use of elemental chlorine.
Going further than existing EU legislation, biocides shall not be incorporated into fibres, fabrics or the final product in order to impart biocidal properties to meet the new criteria.
Existing holders of the EU Eco-Label will be given a transitional period to adapt their textile products to comply with the revised criteria.
For more info see the next printed issue of Ecotextile News, or watch out for our Eco-Textile Labelling Guide 2014.
