Data disclaimer

ZDHC’s Impact Report 2023 is a reflection of the organisation’s ongoing commitment to transparency and accountability in reporting its progress toward sustainable practices.

It is necessary to acknowledge certain considerations regarding the data used in this report. ZDHC has access to large datasets which provide untapped potential for its digital platforms. To manage data more effectively, ZDHC needs greater visibility and better analysis of the data it collects.

The organisation initiated efforts in 2023 to identify relevant datasets for impact reporting, recognising that the challenge is not only with the amount of data collected but also its quality. By, for example, reinforcing the use of ZDHC Gateway Supplier Profile, ZDHC could get access to more relevant data for its analysis.

During the first quarter of 2023, ZDHC centralised its existing data and established a comprehensive structure, necessitating the internalisation of information from platform service providers. In the process, inconsistencies were identified, and corrective measures are underway to address these gaps in future reporting cycles.

The data utilised for the Impact Thesis 2023, as of February 2024, represents the best available information. ZDHC is committed to enhancing its data quality in 2024, with plans for annual reviews of relevant datasets to establish benchmarks for future Impact Reports.

The organisation engaged its Management Team and Advisory Groups in a hackathon format in 2023 to identify key focus areas for data extraction. As a result, the Impact Thesis 2023 introduces new trends aligned with ZDHC's 2030 impact strategy and goals.

It is important to note that, given the evolving nature of the Impact Thesis, certain data comparisons may not be available at present but will be incorporated over time. Each year, ZDHC will introduce additional relevant metrics, reflecting its commitment not only to its initiatives but also to aligning efforts with the Greenpeace Detox Campaign commitments, UN Sustainable Development Goals, and emerging technological advancements such as drone photos.

How we achieve change

The ZDHC MRSL

The starting point of our work is the ZDHC Manufacturing Restricted Substances List (ZDHC MRSL). The MRSL provides a clear list that says “no” to harmful substances, stopping them from getting into products in the first place. The ZDHC MRSL sets strict rules for using chemicals sustainably, helping our signatories smoothly switch to safer alternatives. MRSL-approved chemicals are showcased on the ZDHC Gateway, making it easy to opt for more sustainable alternatives.

We keep the ZDHC MRSL up to date.

It’s a living document that gets updated frequently. Following ZDHC implementation guidance helps suppliers meet ZDHC Wastewater requirements, making sure factories treat wastewater effectively. Passing these tests means having skilled operators run the wastewater plants efficiently. The MRSL is not just about making products safer—it’s all about ensuring that harmful substances do not enter the production of our value chains or end up in our global ecosystems at all.

The ZDHC Gateway:

The ZDHC Gateway is the world’s largest database of chemical products offering safer alternative options for the global fashion industry. Along with the MRSL, it’s another example of how we focus our attention on chemical input.

To keep an eye on Supplier performance and boost transparency, ZDHC requires Suppliers on the Gateway to share their wastewater test results, all done according to the ZDHC Wastewater Guidelines. The Gateway is the industry’s go-to platform to measure the ZDHC Programme impact based on water quality data.

Since 2019, factories in the Roadmap to Zero Programme have completed chemical inventories and shared their findings on the Gateway using InCheck reports. This helps monitor how well factories follow the ZDHC MRSL implementation guidance and spot any slip-ups that need corrective action.

Let’s hear more from Prasad Pant

The ZDHC MRSL

It’s one thing, Prasad says, to tell the industry not to do something. But the industry’s answer will always be: “Well, what should I do then?”

Current guidelines, such as the latest version of the Wastewater Guidelines 2.1, measure MRSL substances and conventional parameters. The guidelines provide a global standard for sampling, testing, and reporting industrial wastewater and sludge. They set limits for conventional parameters (e.g., temperature, pH) and chemicals listed on MRSL.

Prasad points to the lack of proper management in effluent treatment plants, otherwise known as ETPs. Conventional parameters in the quality of wastewater generally relate to ETP efficiency.  

He says his team is currently at work on an ETP efficiency protocol, which would allow a brand to evaluate whether the ETP of a supplier is working effectively or not.

Moving forward, though, Prasad wants to see the ZDHC Roadmap to Zero Programme concentrate more on input management. He says controlling chemical inputs from the start of the production process is crucial for mitigating end-of-line issues, highlighting the importance of sustainable chemical management. “The whole focus and the efforts of the supply chain should be there,” he says.

Prasad feels that the ZDHC Performance InCheck and Verified InCheck Level 1 should be implemented more aggressively by Brands and the supply chain to monitor their input inventory for ZDHC MRSL conformance and take continuous actions to improve it.

Implementing input chemical management would also be incentivised for wastewater testing in line with the ZDHC 2030 Impact Strategy in the coming future. Currently, wastewater testing offers limited snapshots throughout the year and is a costly exercise.

Prasad is optimistic about what can be achieved going forward. “I mean, we have a goal of 100% ZDHC MRSL conformance for chemical formulations used in the ZDHC Community and 70% conformance for chemical formulations used in the global industry, which points to our focus of controlling inputs for cleaner outputs,” he says.

Q&A with Scott Echols, Chief Impact Officer at ZDHC

On renewing ZDHC’s focus

On the journey to show impact through data

In the trucking industry

Jameson Morrell has been integral to ZDHC’s journey since its inception, playing a role in its initial development as a consultant. Morrell now serves as the Director of Sustainability at PACCAR, a motor vehicle manufacturing company headquartered in Washington state.  

Now, Morrell is back working with ZDHC to navigate the complexities of advancing compliance within the trucking industry. Reflecting on his sector's unique challenges, Morrell notes that his  industry is particularly attentive to design, utilisation, and end-of-life.  

Early conversations between PACCAR and ZDHC are already underway. Morrell introduced colleagues to ZDHC to start looking at the lifecycle process within medium and heavy-duty trucks to see how different product specifications are screened for compliance and broader risk management needs.

So much of the conversation, he says, is about “cradle-to-cradle.” In that regard, “trucks have recyclability and recovery in the high 90 percentile, he says. “They are fully scavenged at end of life, and there’s a lot of metals and useful substances in there.”  

When it comes to end-of-life, he believes the apparel industry can actually learn more from the trucking industry.  

Bringing PACCAR and ZDHC together has been rewarding, with Morrell’s scientists and engineers showing interest in ZDHC’s standard processes. At the same time, he says, ZDHC was interested in the recyclability and recovery rates in the trucking industry.

Although collaboration between the two industries may seem unlikely, the materials used are often similar, and the ZDHC MRSL provides a meeting point for both.

Collaborative reflections

Ambitious from the start

Several years ago, the president of Apparel Impact Institute, Lewis Perkins, observed a pattern: the industry was stuck in the pilot phase. Projects were small-scale, and Perkins was missing and craving action and scaled impact.    

He had been working on Clean By Design – an energy and water efficiency improvement program designed for mills – when he saw firsthand how helpful it would be to integrate something like ZDHC’s tools and frameworks into the on-the-ground work.  

There were a lot of initiatives out there, Perkins says, and it was not always easy for the suppliers and brand retailers pushing those initiatives to understand who could deliver meaningful and measurable impact.

“If we didn’t [coordinate], then we weren’t really serving the industry in the way that we said, which was [Aii’s] mission statement: identify, fund, scale, and measure proven solutions.”

Andrew Martin, the Executive Vice President at Cascale (formerly the Sustainable Apparel Coalition) says the industry demands simplification that could benefit the whole value chain.

Martin says it became a natural partnership and way of working. “How do we ensure that we can actually partner with the people who have the biggest potential for driving a positive impact?” he says. “And very much in the chemical management space, the leader is ZDHC.”

‘Courage’ at the heart of collaboration

The first step to long-term partnership? “Trust,” says Perkins.

For Perkins, that was success right there. The second piece for him was leaning into that trust and leveraging it to navigate challenges together.      

For Martin collaboration feels personal. From the very beginning, he was impressed by the real willingness among the group to be honest about their strengths and weaknesses, and to have ‘tough’ conversations about defining what each side would continue to focus on. “I think that level of honesty, courage, and humility is really important to foster lasting change,” Martin says.  

“Getting through that has enabled us to be able to go, ‘Okay, there’s certain things we won’t do because that’s ZDHC’s role, there’s certain things we should be doing, and there’s certain things that Textile Exchange should be doing,” he says, on the complementary strengths.    

“And now we're on that journey of actually saying, ‘Well, what does that mean in practice’?  

From theory to practice

For both Perkins and Martin, once there was a high level of intent and purpose from leadership and working groups, they could then “pan out into actual implementation into tools and programs” in the words of Martin.    

“We’ve done a lot of work in aligning the Higg BRM to ZDHC’s Brand to Zero reporting for Cascale. So that’s a real practical piece.” As of November 2023, the Supplier to Zero aligns with the new Higg FEM 4.0.  

Another key to success was actually having a market to apply that partnership to, notes Perkins. He points out a particular example where Aii collaborated with ZDHC to share tools for mill and tannery suppliers in Italy.  

Ultimately, Perkins views this coordination as a menu of offerings. “Whether you're leveraging the tools of Cascale, the standards of Textile Exchange, the framework of ZDHC, or the programs of Aii, it’s all seen as a comprehensive user journey,” he says.  

‘The next phase is critical’

"I think the success is that we are starting to truly integrate [processes]” says Martin. “This gives us the opportunity then to start actually collecting the data and reporting on where we’re going and what we’re doing in aligning our collective action programs."

The data for due diligence project* is one of those activities. With this funding, the apparel alliance is looking at complementarity and improvement of programs, illuminating an approach for facilities and factories to support them along the way.

Beyond that, the apparel alliance is working on a new project which looks to put together a standard framework of agreed-upon definitions and classifications for raw materials, processes, products, operators, and producers.    All of this takes time – and Cascale emphasises that there’s no time to waste. “The next phase is critical,” Martin says. “When it comes to GHG emissions and the 2030 targets, we do need to be accelerating. I’m very positive about the work in the last three to four years,” he says.

*This project is financed by the Initiative for Global Solidarity (IGS) which promotes human rights and environmental due diligence in global supply chains. The IGS works on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft for Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.

Q&A People are the Changemakers

ZDHC also sat down with the Academy’s Mariella Noto to discuss what inspires her about these capacity-building projects.

Q&A with Lydia Lin

Regional Director ZDHC.  Lin is based in Shanghai, China