Textile Standards

Certificates are important, but …

… one alone doesn’t cover all the standards we set for ourselves – let alone across the entire supply chain. You want to be sure that your workwear is produced as responsibly, socially, and ecologically as possible? You can tell by the following certificates, which represent what’s important to you and us.

OEKO-TEX^®

We care as much as you do that our products do not contain human toxicological risks and harmful substances. How we ensure maximum consumer safety? By deciding many years ago that all our products should have STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® – at Weitblick this is the mandatory minimum requirement in product development.

STANDARD 100 is a seal of quality awarded by independent testing institutes in several countries and covers testing for harmful substances on the finished product. So if a high level of product safety is important to you, with test criteria that go far beyond national and international legal requirements, then this seal also exceeds your demands.

We want all our manufacturing steps to always be compatible with the health protection and production conditions of local workers. In this context, environmentally friendly production processes are to be implemented on a permanent basis, natural resources are to be used efficiently, and environmental pollution is to be reduced. All this is ensured by the STeP certificate.

Within the framework of the STeP certificate, not only individual sustainability aspects are checked, but the production conditions are analysed and evaluated holistically. STeP analyses all key areas of the company within the framework of six modules:

Chemicals management
Environmental performance
Environmental management
Social responsibility
Quality management
Health & Safety

Want an inside look at our supply chain?

You shall have it!

We could tell you a lot about our production conditions. Just convince yourself! This is possible with the traceable product label MADE IN GREEN by OEKO-TEX®! In addition to fair and ecologically sustainable manufacturing conditions, it also ensures that the material used is free of harmful substances. It is visible to you through the clear labelling of all certified products and the associated traceability of the supply chain of a specific item. This is your direct insight into our textile supply chain. You can see exactly which production stage your product has passed through in which part of the world. Each product is equipped with an individual label on which you will find a product ID. You can enter this at www.oeko-tex.com/de/label-check.

Two labels create a third: ‘MADE IN GREEN’

A sustainability standard that covers the value chain from production through the product itself is the MADE IN GREEN by OEKO-TEX® label. The requirement for this is STANDARD 100 certification of our finished products as well as STeP by OEKO-TEX® certification of the garment manufacturing plants and operating sites with chemical wet processes (e.g. fabric dyeing).

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Certification across the entire value chain

THE GREEN BUTTON

We certify a wide range of our products with the Green Button. It is a meta-seal that on the one hand requires other certificates and on the other hand demands that 26 minimum social and ecological standards are met. In addition, we as a company have to prove our due diligence obligations in another 20 criteria. The Green Button thus recognizes textiles that are produced under particularly high social and environmental standards and whose supply chain is extremely sustainable.

The certification process involves a lot of effort, but we are happy to face it. Because the seal fits in perfectly with our philosophy – and you get even more assurance that you are holding workwear in your hands that has been produced in a holistically fair and ecological manner. At the same time, the Green Button gives you clarity and helps you to make your consumption as sustainable as you would like it to be.

SOCIALLY SOUND | Good for people

The Green Button sets mandatory requirements for decent work, from guaranteed minimum wages and compliance with working hours to a ban on child labour and forced labour.

ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND | Good for nature

The Green Button bans the use of hazardous chemicals and softeners and lays down mandatory limits on effluent discharge.

GOVERNMENT-RUN | A label you can trust

The government lays down the criteria and conditions for the Green Button – guaranteeing clarity you can trust.

INDEPENDENTLY CERTIFIED | Independent audits

Independent auditors review compliance with the criteria set.

Cotton made in Africa

„Cotton made in Africa“ (CmiA)-verified cotton is part of our supply chain, and has been since 2017, among other things, in a very large collection of one of our food retail customers. Above all, however, we are convinced of „Cotton made in Africa“. After all, fair workwear is only possible if the social, economic and ecological living conditions of small cotton farmers are fair. Cotton made in Africa covers comprehensive sustainability criteria for the cultivation and harvesting of cotton. It promotes environmental protection and social progress in the African cotton sector by helping smallholders and ginning factory workers improve their living and working conditions. How? For example, by not using genetically modified seeds. Although the cotton does not have to be produced according to organic standards, sustainable cultivation methods are taken into account. Artificial irrigation is not permitted, for example. Cotton made in Africa – this stands for a principle of helping people to help themselves through trade. It is an innovative approach that we believe in because it links the goals of development cooperation with those of sustainable trade.

We encourage the ‘Mass Balance Supporter’ model

At the spinning mill level, CmiA cotton may be blended with cotton of other origins – this involves a quantity control where there must be a balance between purchased CmiA cotton and yarn sold as CmiA.

Because farmers can sell larger quantities of their cotton through the Fairtrade cotton commodity model, it opens up both fair trading conditions and new paths for social change and greater environmental protection. Learn more at www.info.fairtrade.net/sourcing

FLO ID: 41220 or WEITBLICK

Supporting Fairtrade Cotton

Do you want your workwear to contain Fairtrade cotton? So do we! For good reason: The focus of the Fairtrade raw material model is on the people who are at the very beginning of the textile value chain, namely the farmers who grow and harvest the cotton. For them, it opens up both fair trading conditions and new paths for social change and greater environmental protection. Fixed purchase quantities give them planning security and thus enable them to increase their income. In order to meet the Fairtrade standards and to be certified, the smallholders have to fulfill many conditions. They must comply with environmental and social requirements and ensure health and safety in cotton production. In return, however, certified smallholders enjoy many benefits: they receive the Fairtrade minimum price for their produce as well as premiums that they can use for community projects after a democratic vote. The cotton purchased is not physically traceable – producers still benefit: For each ton of Fairtrade cotton, they receive fixed minimum prices that cover the costs of sustainable production.