Certificates
What each certificate covers — and, just as importantly, what it does not. Scope and exclusions are taken from the issuing body's own published documentation.
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Textile Exchange
GRS — Global Recycled Standard
Its chemical rules cover only the chemicals used in processing, not those already carried in the reclaimed feedstock, and no physical performance is tested. Ask which version a certificate was audited against; 5.0 becomes…
Last verified 2026-08-22 -
Textile Exchange
RCS — Recycled Claim Standard
Carries no social, environmental or chemical requirements at all — it verifies the recycled percentage and stops there. Suppliers commonly offer it when GRS was asked for, so check which of the two the…
Last verified 2026-08-22 -
Global Standard gGmbH
GOTS — Global Organic Textile Standard
The percentage is measured on fibre content alone, so zips, buckles and soles sit outside the number, and "GOTS certified" without a grade and a figure is an incomplete answer. Its site-level water and…
Last verified 2026-08-22 -
Textile Exchange
OCS — Organic Content Standard
No processing, chemical or social criteria of any kind: it traces the organic percentage back to a certified farm and stops there. It stands to GOTS as RCS stands to GRS — the content…
Last verified 2026-08-22 -
OEKO-TEX® Association
OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100
A chemical safety certificate, not an environmental one — a virgin fossil-based PVC sheet can hold a valid one. Because certification is modular, check whether the certificate covers the finished article you are buying…
Last verified 2026-08-22 -
Leather Working Group
LWG — Leather Working Group
Rates the tannery, not the hide and not the finished article, and says nothing about animal welfare. It does not apply to leather alternatives or synthetics at all, so a plant-based sheet quoted as…
Last verified 2026-08-22 -
Forest Stewardship Council
FSC — Forest Stewardship Council
On a mixed article the label covers only the forest-derived parts, and FSC Mix permits a defined share of non-certified input, so a claim without the label grade is incomplete. Bamboo, cork, rattan and…
Last verified 2026-08-22 -
U.S. Department of Agriculture
USDA BioPreferred
Radiocarbon testing measures where the carbon came from and nothing else: bio-based is not biodegradable, not compostable and not low-carbon. A sheet certified at 70% bio-based still leaves 30% unaccounted for, so ask what…
Last verified 2026-08-22 -
bluesign technologies ag
bluesign®
APPROVED covers a component while PRODUCT covers a finished article with at least 90% approved textile input; the two are quoted interchangeably and are not the same claim. Neither says anything about recycled or…
Last verified 2026-08-22 -
TÜV Austria Belgium
TÜV Austria OK compost INDUSTRIAL
Industrial composting only — not home compost, not soil, not landfill, not seawater. If no facility in your market accepts the item, the certificate stays technically valid and practically meaningless, so ask where the…
Last verified 2026-08-22