TEXTILES.ORG
Ten major Chinese viscose producers have released a joint three-year roadmap for the sustainable development of the viscose manufacturing industry in China. These companies together produce about 50 percent of the world’s supply.
Ecotextile News says that the roadmap is in partnership with two Chinese textile trade associations. It requires that members use a new framework to help clean up the sector through the adoption of industry best practices, in alignment with international manufacturing standards, such as the ZDHC wastewater discharge guidelines or the completion of a Higg Index FEM 3.0 self-assessment. Other required standards include being certified to the STeP by Oeko-Tex standard at level 1 or above.
The roadmap also stipulates that all viscose cellulosic raw materials should be certified to either FSC or PEFC traceability standards as well as the local environmental standard BG/T 14463 for viscose staple fiber production.
China’s largest viscose producer, Sateri, says that the Collaboration for Sustainable Development of Viscose (CV) was formed in March 2018 to address sustainability challenges and drive market transformation to address market growth and rising scrutiny over the sustainability performance of sourcing and production of viscose. Over the past decade, the global production of viscose has increased from 2.3 million tons in 2008 to 5.6 million tons in 2017. But recent concerns over environmental noncompliance in some enterprises, and subsequent shutdowns, spurred the industry to take action.
At that time, the CV initiative committed its members to adopt and implement a time-bound framework of actions to address environmental and social issues through the adoption of industry best practices and international certification standards. This framework became the CV Roadmap, the first of its kind in the man-made cellulose fiber sector to cover the full viscose supply chain, from responsible sourcing to responsible production.