DyStar commits to the collective effort of driving the textile and leather industry towards sustainable production

Singapore – 19 June 2019 – As a strong advocate of sustainable production, DyStar is pleased to join the ZDHC Foundation, which manages the Roadmap to Zero Programme with the aim of phasing out hazardous chemicals in the textile, apparel, footwear and leather value chain by promoting safer chemistry and driving innovation.

This initiative is a collective effort from the Global Chemical Industry Round Table (GCIRT), a group of the leading chemical solution providers in the textile and leather industry with the aim of driving the industry further to become more sustainable. The GCIRT members are: DyStar Singapore Pte Ltd; Archroma; CHT Germany GmbH; Colourtex Industries Private Limited; Huntsman Textile Effects; Kisco; Pulcra Chemicals Group; Rudolf GmbH; Tanatex Chemicals B.V.

Following an open letter to ZDHC in May 2018, GCIRT’s signatory’s engagement into the ZDHC Programme will support a faster transformation of the industry by taking the complexity out of the supply chain and to find appropriate solutions for the industries’ requirements.

In an intense dialogue and a series of meetings during the past year between the ZDHC Board of Directors and the GCIRT, an alignment was gained on ZDHC organizational commitments and a mutual understanding of the role of chemical suppliers within the ZDHC Programme. As a consequence of the alignment, the GCIRT signatory companies will each be joining the ZDHC Foundation as Contributors and uploading their products in the Chemical Module of the ZDHC Gateway via bluesign’s bluefinder tool.

DyStar is a proud member of the Global Chemical Industry Round Table (GCIRT) initiative and is very happy to announce our decision to join the ZDHC Foundation as a contributor. As part of this initiative, we will be uploading our key products onto the ZDHC Gateway Chemical Module and support the ZDHC Manufacturing Restricted Substance List (MRSL) and the related “pyramid” conformity system designed to eliminate duplicative approaches. This is the fundamental base to the success of ZDHC and all stakeholders of the textile value chain. DyStar will actively engage in various task forces focused on supporting the continuous improvement programs of ZDHC. As such DyStar, together with the GCIRT Initiative, look forward to a close and open cooperation with all stakeholders of ZDHC.

DyStar’s commitment to ZDHC Foundation is further demonstrated in the areas of innovative product design and organization operation practices. Sustainability begins with design at DyStar because the most effective way to mitigate a product’s lifecycle impact is to get it right from the onset. To achieve this, we integrate the ZDHC requirements as part of our R&D efforts to provides safer and more environmentally benign products for customers and ultimately the final users.

On its operation practices, Eric Hopmann, Chief Executive Officer of DyStar highlighted that, “A holistic approach towards sustainability is needed considering all counterparts and stakeholders to put some real positive impact on businesses, people, and the planet. DyStar operations being the core and one of the most impactful stakeholders in the value chain, need to take a systematic approach for implementing sustainability. By joining the ZDHC, DyStar is committed to the vision of widespread implementation of sustainable chemistry, wastewater management, and environmental best practices.”

Assessing the need for establishing the sustainability commitment in the textile industry, DyStar believes the expanded collaboration with ZDHC will enable a most effective uptake and impact of chemical management practices and innovations across the textile industry.