Value Chain Textiles

• CULTIVATION
• GINNING
• SPINNING
• BLEACHING, DYEING
• KNITTING, WEAVING
• SEWING, TAILORING
• TRADE, RETAIL

• • Environmental
    indicators
  • Emissions, effluent and waste

    Cotton cultivation carries a particularly high risk, primarily due to the use of synthetic chemical pesticides and fertilisers. Chemicals are often used when spinning the ginned raw cotton into yarn and during the subsequent treatment of the yarn – such as bleaching and dyeing. Chemical finishing processes also play a role in some cases during knitting or weaving.

  • Resource consumption

    Resource consumption, particularly in the case of water, plays a key role throughout the entire value chain. The first two stages – cultivation and threshing – are particularly affected.

  • Biodiversity
  • Transport emissions
  • Animal welfare
  • Human rights
  • Discrimination
  • The interests of the local community
  • Child labour

    The textile industry has been the subject of criticism for years over the issue of child labour. It shifted its production to so-called developing countries at an early stage – a move facilitated by a clear division of labour and production processes that have remained unchanged for decades. Whilst the large number of suppliers and subcontractors makes production cheap and flexible, the complex supply chains lead to a deterioration in working conditions. It is the youngest and most vulnerable – the children – who suffer the most.

  • Forced and compulsory labour
  • Freedom of association

    The right to form trade unions is widely regarded as uncontroversial at international level and is enshrined in the laws of the major textile-producing countries. However, the reality is often quite different. Companies face a growing risk of coming under suspicion of working with suppliers who themselves circumvent these legal requirements.

  • Work practices/
    -quality
  • Employment
    status

    In the textile sector, we deliberately define the risk area of ‘employment relationships’ narrowly, as the focus here is on working conditions, which require precise differentiation. In the trade and retail sectors, we therefore specifically refer to issues such as the management of staff, overtime, shift work and fixed-term contracts.

  • Health and Safety at Work

    Health and safety at work fall within the risk area of working practices and quality – and at the same time represent the biggest problem. These risks occur at all stages of the value chain, with the exception of the wholesale and retail sectors. Whilst conditions vary depending on the country and stage of processing, the same abuses recur: workers handle pesticides without protection during cultivation; there is a lack of safety measures during husking; and dyes and bleaching agents are used without safety precautions. Added to this are blocked emergency exits, inadequate fire safety, a ban on meals, a lack of breaks and endless overtime.

  • Discrimination/Diversity
  • Governance
  • Corruption, bribery, accepting benefits
  • Anti-competitive behaviour
  • Compliance
  • Tax evasion
  • Poor governance
  • Product
    responsibility
  • Customer safety

    Consumer safety in the textile sector relates primarily to cultivation, as well as bleaching and dyeing. A risk to consumers arises when chemical substances from these processes remain as residues in the textiles and enter the body via the skin. Even buying organic cotton does not provide protection against this, as it merely guarantees GMO-free and pesticide-free cultivation, but does not guarantee that the subsequent processing is free from harmful substances.

  • Labelling of products

    The EU clearly regulates how the fibre composition of textile products must be labelled (Textile Labelling Regulation). This issue poses virtually no risks within the textile sector. As textiles, being consumer products, are subject to the Product Safety Act (ProdSG), distributors are obliged to comply with the regulations. However, there is no obligation to state the origin or to disclose production sites. Consumers therefore remain reliant on companies’ voluntary transparency.

  • Marketing, Advertising
  • Protection of customer data