After one year as a ZDHC “Value Chain Affiliate”, specialty chemicals company LANXESS has now completed certification for all organic leather chemicals published at Compliance Level 3 in the ZDHC Gateway, the largest online catalogue for sustainable chemicals in the textile and apparel industry.

The ZDHC Foundation, established in 2011, has set itself the goal of improving sustainability and chemicals management. Its Roadmap to Zero Programme takes a holistic approach to reducing the use of hazardous substances in the global textile, leather and footwear value chain. This includes to eliminate the use of priority chemicals by focusing on the following areas: Manufacturing Restricted Substances List (MRSL) & Conformity Guidance, wastewater quality, audit protocol, research, data and disclosure, and training.

As those objectives are fully in line with the LANXESS principles, the company’s Leather Chemicals business unit has contributed to the ZDHC MRSL (ZDHC Manufacturing Restricted Substances List) development process from the very beginning. In a first step LANXESS was involved via the sector organisation TEGEWA, and since April 2018, the company is a Value Chain Affiliate. This helps to increase visibility and to be directly involved in decision-making processes.

Level 3 certification via Chem-MAP completed

The Chem-MAP value chain program was designed by the British Leather Center (BLC) in response to the need for verification of chemical inputs and involves programmes aimed at the three main stakeholders within a consumer goods value chain: the chemical manufacturing company, the materials manufacturer and the brand company and/or retailer.

The programme ensures that chemical products are sold in accordance with the MRSL specification and that chemical manufacturers have appropriate stewardship in terms of management including control systems to assure that chemical products are manufactured responsibly and to recognised standards. This process involves a robust assessment of LANXESS and further downstream assurance through audits of facilities and surveillance testing of the chemical products supplied.

After the evaluation process for all organic leather chemicals in the LANXESS portfolio was completed a year ago, the results are now available via the gateway.