This year, the TESTEX pavilion focussed in particular on STeP by OEKO-TEX® certification for sustainable production facilities as well as on the presentation of the new MySTeP database for central administration of supply chains with regard to sustainability. With STeP by OEKO-TEX®, brands, retailers and manufacturers in the textile chain have the opportunity to communicate their performance relating to fair working conditions and the use of environmentally friendly production processes in a transparent, credible and understandable way. During a celebratory evening event attended by around 120 OEKOTEX ® Standard 100 certified company representatives and brands, OEKO-TEX® General Secretary, Dr. Jean-Pierre Haug, awarded three Chinese companies the STeP certificate for successfully implementing sustainable production conditions:
- Guangdong Esquel Textiles Co., Ltd. Founded in 1978, the Esquel Group is one of the world's leading cotton shirt producers and is based in Hong Kong. Covering all stages from cotton cultivation to their own sales concept, the full-service company manufactures over 100 million garments for internationally renowned brands each year with annual revenue of 1.2 billion USD. Guangdong Esquel Textiles (GET) has successfully achieved the STeP by OEKO-TEX® Certification, Level 3, which is the highest classification for its environmental friendly production and its socially responsible policies through the entire textile process.
- Shenghong Group - New Fiber Fabric Workshop has become one of the first companies in China to be awarded the STeP by OEKO-TEX® certification. As one of the largest service providers in the area of dyeing and printing in China, Shenghong Group employs about 30,000 people in its ten production plants and produces woven fabrics made from synthetic and viscose blends for outer garments, leisure wear and sportswear, as well as baby clothing.
- Loftex China Ltd. is one of the largest towel manufacturers and exporters in China. It has been certified by OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 for ten years and became one of the first companies in China certified according to STeP by OEKO-TEX®. Loftex is a leading company in large scale production and innovation in China towel industry and holds several patents in China and the US.
Since the summer of this year, OEKO-TEX® has also offered the new online database MySTeP as an enhancement to STeP certification of individual production operations. This was presented exclusively at the fair stand and during the evening event. MySTeP enables registered companies to analyse and compare the sustainability of their entire supply chain using the relevant key performance indicators (KPI). The new database platform can be used by all companies in the textile sector, regardless of whether they have OEKO-TEX® certification.
More information on the OEKO-TEX® presence at Intertextile Shanghai or on the certifications and services presented is available from the OEKO-TEX® Secretariat in Zurich. Contact: info@oeko-tex.com.