Circular fashion is a new trend at a global level bringing a closer dialogue with consumers to increase awareness of the environmental and social impact of textile and footwear products.
To support the development of fashion circularity model, driving best practices and traceability in the circular supply chain, SGS developed the Upcycling Verification program via working very closely with industry leaders.
As mentioned by Dr. Christina Dean, founder/CEO of The R Collective, “less than 1 percent of clothes used to make fashion are recycled back into fashion and around USD 500 billion is lost annually to the global economy through the lack of recycling and clothing under-utilization”. Brands will incorporate additional sustainable concepts and features into their product designs helping them build their brand image.
Recycling is a widely-known approach to deal with waste, which might introduce contaminants during the recycling process and lead to lower quality materials or products. As an alternative process and complementary solution to recycling, upcycling can help to utilize the collected/reclaimed textile excess or waste to make new products with higher value than the original one through the process of repurposing, redesigning and remaking. It offers another option in the waste management hierarchy.
In the past years, pioneer brands have taken their steps on upcycled product to accelerate the transition toward circular textile industry. “Upcycling is not a new concept”, as Dr. Christina Dean said during the interview, “However, it has never been a practice that has been tracked and validated.” The growth of consumers’ demand for transparency and verification claim, alongside their appetite to support sustainable fashion, SGS has developed an Upcycling Verification Program to offer the independent third-party verification solution to the textile and footwear industry.
Why need Upcycling Claim Verification Scheme?
- Support upcycling claim in the market
- Demonstrate traceability and transparency in the supply chain
- Increase resources utilization efficiency
- Response to sustainability initiatives in the industry
Service workflow
This service is to verify the upcycled material and evaluate the upcycled content in the final product. This service is to verify the upcycled material and evaluate the upcycled content in the final product. The procedure for the Upcycling Verification Program is as below:
With our commitment to the environment, health and production safety, SGS helps you and your suppliers to establish environmental standards for textiles without compromising functionality, quality and design.
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