TUV Rheinland has extended its lead in the provision of chemical management solutions and services for the textile, fashion and footwear industry, following its accreditation as a global training provider by the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) Foundation.
Through the ZDHC Academy, TUV Rheinland will provide brands and manufacturers with ZDHC-certified training to improve their knowledge and promote the practice of responsible chemical management. The training is an extension of the TUV Rheinland Academy’s existing OHS (occupational health and safety) training programme for the textiles industry.
Targeted at the global market, the first wave of training sessions, entitled “Introduction to Chemical Management,†will take place from October to November — starting with Vietnam and followed by sessions in Bangladesh, Turkey and Italy. Full details of programme can be found at www.roadmaptozero.com/academy/TUV Rheinland has been actively promoting sound chemical management for nearly a decade, starting with the International Labour Organization’s SCORE (Sustaining Competitive and Responsible Enterprises) program and its own FIT FIVE training program that links productivity and quality with CSR. TUV Rheinland has also worked with Germany’s leading provider of international cooperation services, GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH), on its Resource Efficient Management of Chemicals (REMC) framework for the Apparel & Footwear supply chain. One of the most recent additions is a comprehensive DETOX offering, which TUV Rheinland launched as a direct response to the Greenpeace DETOX campaign aimed at uniting top textile and footwear brands and retailers to achieve zero discharge of hazardous chemicals by the year 2020.
“It might seem easy for manufacturers to produce ‘clean’ finished products by washing and flushing out some of the undesired chemicals into the local sewerage system before delivery, but it’s also extremely short-sighted. Ethical buyers and end-user customers are increasingly looking for assurance that the production process is clean from start to finish, which takes careful testing and quality training to achieve,†said Holger Kunz, Executive Vice President, Business Stream Products for TUV Rheinland.
Kunz noted that approximately a third of the international fashion industry, including some of the world’s biggest brands, are already members of the ZDHC Foundation. More are joining every day. TUV Rheinland’s extensive global network of testing, inspection and certification facilities is now in the process of finalizing accreditation as Accepted ZDHC Laboratories.
TUV Rheinland India signs MoU with EPCH
TUV Rheinland India, a subsidiary of TUV Rheinland Group, Germany, a worldwide leader in Testing, Training, Inspection, Consulting & Certification, announced that it has signed an MoU with Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH) to work together in building capacity and capability in the Indian Handicraft sector.
The MoU was signed by Rakesh Kumar, Executive Director, EPCH and Charan Singh, Regional Director, TUV Rheinland India.
TUV Rheinland India is a subsidiary of TUV Rheinland Group, Germany, pioneers in providing technical services worldwide for more than 143 years. Having started its operation in 1996 in India, the company is a part of the India, Middle East and Africa Group and caters to the Indian market as well as Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives markets.