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ECO-LABELS
It's pushing the definition of "environmentally-friendly", though.
With the kind of awareness and restrictions coming in to ecology of textiles world over,the first thing every textile processor need to know prior to processing any textile material is the end use of the textile being processed and the country to which being exported.
Because each end use, e.g. baby wear, clothing in direct contact with skin,furnishing fabrics etc. will have different specifications just as each country will have different legislation.
Broadly,the restrictions concern the presence of following chemicals on textiles beyond prescribed limits.
• Prohibited amines in azo dyes
• Chlorinated phenols
• Formaldehyde
• Extractable heavy metals
• Residual pesticides
• Allergenic dyes
• Chlorinated benzenes& toluenes compound
• Phthalates
• Organa tin compounds
There has been a significant increase over the past few years in the use of eco-labels, i.e. environmental labels attached to a variety of products to attract the attention of consumers about the environmentally positive features of the products. Generally these labels are voluntary and mostly used for the promotion of the products on the basis of their environmentally friendly characteristics. In the case of textiles and clothing there are for the time being no eco-labels the use of which has been enforced by mandatory rules.
To enhance awareness about the environmental impacts of products, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Government of India (GoI) has initiated a sheme in 1991,which is basically a scheme of labeling the eco-friendly products .It is known as “Ecomark” scheme and aims at easy identification of eco-friendly products.The scheme is based on a “cradle to grave” approach and takes into account the impact of a product from the raw material extraction, to manufacturing, and to final disposal. an earthen pot has been chosen as a logo for the eco-mark scheme.
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