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Key Takeaways
- Textile and sustainability labels help textile care providers and their corporate customers demonstrate compliance with due diligence obligations in sustainable supply chains.
- Standards such as GOTS, Fairtrade Cotton, CmiA and Better Cotton primarily assess the cultivation and origin of natural fibres, with differing requirements for organic production, pricing and traceability.
- GRS, RCS and SCS Recycled verify recycled material content and set requirements for production throughout the supply chain.
- Production-site certifications such as Oeko-Tex STeP assess environmental and chemical management as well as social criteria, occupational health and workplace safety.
- The Oeko-Tex MADE IN GREEN product label combines traceable production with verified manufacturing conditions and textile safety testing.
There are textile and sustainability labels aplenty. In the B2B sector, however, there are far fewer – but they carry greater weight: they enable industrial businesses to meet their due diligence obligations relating to sustainable textile supply chains and keep pace with the international trend towards the legal regulation of corporate responsibility. In this context, the certification of both textile raw materials and production sites to recognised standards is becoming increasingly important. Here, we introduce a selection of labels commonly used in the textile care industry and assess their relevance.
Labels for sustainable textile fibres
Organic standards
Standards such as Cotton made in Africa Organic, the Organic Cotton Accelerator (OCA), national organic regulations and the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) set stringent environmental and social requirements for organically produced natural fibres and – depending on the standard – textile goods made from them. Farm audits, volume tracking and controls, in some cases through to the end product, ensure a high level of supply chain transparency. However, fibre traceability also has a downside when every producer involved in the value chain must be certified: organic natural fibres can become significantly more expensive than conventional cotton. Demand for these fibres is therefore currently declining in the economically sensitive textile service sector.
Fairtrade Cotton
This standard, too, relates to corporate due diligence. The label identifies cotton that is grown under environmentally responsible and fair conditions, and traded at a guaranteed minimum price plus an additional premium for community projects. According to the Materials Market Report 2025 published by Textile Exchange, Fairtrade cotton accounted for 0.1% of the global cotton market in the 2023/24 growing season.
Cotton made in Africa
Cotton made in Africa (CmiA) also promotes more environmentally responsible cotton cultivation and improved living and working conditions for smallholder farmers, with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa. The system allows mass balance accounting: spinning mills may mix the verified fibre volumes they purchase with non-verified raw materials. A textile product therefore does not necessarily contain CmiA cotton. The standard consequently differentiates between two labels: Aid by Trade for mass-balance cotton, and Cotton made in Africa where the minimum content of more sustainably grown fibre is 30%. Among responsibly produced fibres, CmiA has already achieved a market share of 2.6% (2023/24 growing season).
Better Cotton Initiative (BCI)
Better Cotton aims to improve cotton cultivation, focusing on pesticide use, water consumption, soil health, product quality and social conditions. It does not require organic cultivation or the payment of a minimum price, and the initiative is limited exclusively to the cultivation of the natural fibre. Processing is based on the mass balance principle (see CmiA). Better Cotton has a market share of 23%.
Recycled content standards
The use of recycled polyester fibres is increasing in commercial textile care in response to stricter environmental requirements, such as the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles, and decarbonisation initiatives. Depending on the recycling process, synthetic fibres made from recovered resources emit substantially lower amounts of carbon dioxide. Recycled fibre content can be verified through the Global Recycled Standard (GRS), the Recycled Claim Standard (RCS) – voluntary international textile labels by Textile Exchange – and SCS Recycled. The first two verify and trace recycled material content throughout the entire supply chain, while requiring production sites to meet minimum social and environmental criteria. Circularity does, however, come at a cost: recycled polyester can be twice as expensive as virgin fibre. Demand from the textile service sector nevertheless remains strong.
Labels for responsible production sites
Triggered by the appalling conditions in so-called sweatshops, culminating in the Rana Plaza collapse, the Oeko-Tex Sustainable Textile Production (STeP) certification system helps improve environmental and social conditions in textile supply chains. It is based on the assessment and evaluation of a wide range of manufacturing-related aspects, including environmental, chemical and quality management; environmental performance; occupational health; and workplace safety. Other standards based on social audits include Sedex, the Business Social Compliance Initiative and SA8000 by SAI.
STeP certifications as at 29 July 2025: 1,369 across 55 countries
Responsibly made: Oeko-Tex MADE IN GREEN
Oeko-Tex MADE IN GREEN is a traceable product label for textiles made in sustainably operating production facilities. These facilities must demonstrate environmentally responsible manufacturing and compliance with social standards through Oeko-Tex STeP certification. In addition, they must verify the human-ecological safety of their textiles through Oeko-Tex Standard 100 or Organic Cotton certification.
The standard is becoming increasingly relevant in Europe’s B2B sector: workwear and flat linen from various suppliers already carry the label, partly because the textile rental service sector actively demands it.
