GRS Global Recycling Standard for Textiles and Apparel

In response to strong demand for eco-friendly textiles from brands and retailers, the Alliance for Sustainable Development has developed the first Global Recycled Standard (GRS) for textiles and apparel to ensure greater procurement transparency through the production supply chain.

The new GRS is a three-level system, divided into copper standard, silver standard and gold standard according to the recycling standards of each product. The highest gold standard requires products to contain 95-100% recycled materials, silver standard products contain 70-95% recycled materials, and copper standard GRS logo products need to contain no less than 30% recycled materials.

All compliant products must display the recycled content percentage and will carry the appropriate gold, silver or bronze GRS logo.

Mark Prosé, head of the management alliance certification agency, said that the development of global recycling standards is a response to the growing demand of the textile industry to support them in producing environmentally friendly products with recycled materials. The backbone of this standard is the track-and-trace system, which supports the requirements of textile factories and brands for recycled product ingredients.

The alliance said it would use a proof-of-transaction system for track-and-trace, instead of a virtual online system, because not everyone in the supply chain would be willing to expose costs or any confidentiality.

According to GRS, the recycled materials used in textiles will be based on the standards that have been announced by the Scientific Certification System (SCS).

In addition to raw material specifications, this standard also includes environmental processing standards. It includes strict requirements for wastewater treatment and chemical use (according to the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) and Oeko-Tex100).

Social responsibility factors are also included in the GRS, which aims to ensure the health and safety of workers, support workers' labor rights, and comply with the standards set by the International Labor Organization (ILO).