Chemicals are essential to our everyday lives and are used in the manufacturing of clothes, such as washing, dyeing and printing.
Chemicals
Good chemical management is crucial to ensure the safe use and reuse of textile materials. We put safety first by minimising pollution and preventing hazardous discharge into water or soil during production of our products.
Chemical roadmap
We focus on improving chemical management across our value chain to address environmental and human health hazards.
- Traceability of input of chemicals used in the production of commercial goods.
- Engagement to push for legislation and support public policies that promote progressive chemical management.
- Transparency in sharing information about chemicals with customers, including full public disclosure of wastewater discharge test data.
- Zero discharge of prioritised hazardous chemicals in the supply chain.
- Collaboration ensuring clean factories that use common tools such as the MRSL.
- Best available chemistries promoting innovation and development of better chemicals and technologies throughout the supply chain.
Restricted chemicals
We were one of the first in the industry to establish a Chemical Restrictions List in 1995 and we’ve been constantly updating it ever since. To make sure our products don’t contain these chemicals, we perform regular tests, which are mostly carried out by third-party laboratories.
Product safety
Our most vulnerable customer groups always come first in our product safety work, with stricter product chemical requirements for babies and children. This includes proactively eliminating hazardous chemicals. For example, we phased out PFAS and DMF ahead of regulatory mandates.
Input chemical compliance
We aim for 100% compliance with Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals’ (ZDHC) Manufacturing Restricted Substances List (MRSL) across all chemical inputs and wastewater.
In 2024, we achieved 97% compliance of input chemicals in tier 1 and 2 production factories.
- Transparent & compliant
- Need further information
Wastewater compliance
For wastewater discharge, our suppliers are required to comply with ZDHC Wastewater Quality standards, which are often stricter than legal requirements, and to ensure effluent treatment plants are functioning correctly.
In 2024, we achieved 99.5% compliance.
% of suppliers that are ZDHC MRSL compliant
Safer chemical alternatives
We share insights and best practices with industry partners to improve product safety, as well as supporting international safety standards through stakeholder dialogues.
Recycled materials and chemicals
Recycled materials are a key element in the circular economy, but increasing their use while keeping hazardous chemicals out of products and production presents a challenge. To tackle this, we initiated a collaborative study on recycled materials with IKEA to gain better knowledge and understanding of the potential risk of hazardous chemicals being present in recycled textiles. We are also deepening our understanding of recycled materials by considering the differences of various production countries and recycling methods such as mechanical and chemical recycling.
We publish our Sustainability Disclosure annually. In this document, we set out our goals and the progress we’ve made in the previous year. Find the latest version here. More up to date information can be included on this page.
RELATED