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GreenScreen in Apparel

GreenScreen in Textiles

Many brands, chemical companies and manufacturers in the apparel sector are using GreenScreen to help them make informed chemical choices.

Levi’s screened chemistry

Levi Strauss & Co. has developed a Screened Chemistry program that assesses the environmental and human health impact of chemicals used in the garment finishing process to manufacture LS&Co. products.

The framework incorporates GreenScreen and the U.S. EPA’s Safer Choice Program to determine which chemical substances are best in class or better alternatives. Once a third-party toxicologist has assessed each chemical within a formulation, an overall weighted score is assigned to the formulation. Formulations that contain a Benchmark-3 or Benchmark-4 chemical substance (or full green circle on the U.S. EPA SCIL list) are considered preferred substances and will earn a higher score than formulations that contain, for example, Benchmark-1 substances.

This scoring system allows LS&Co. to create a preferred list of chemicals, work with chemical suppliers and garment manufacturers to eliminate chemicals of concern and gain more visibility into the chemicals used to manufacture its products. The framework also prioritizes the assessment of chemicals based on environmental and human health hazard endpoints and ultimately rewards chemical suppliers that choose chemicals that are best in class or better alternatives. 

Garmon Chemical Company

Garmon Chemicals is an Italian chemical company that develops innovative chemical formulations used in garment finishing such as denim jeans and other fashion items. See the Garmon products that meet the GreenScreen requirements.

Garmon’s approach is to screen out chemicals of high concern in the design process using GreenScreen and the US EPA Safer Choice Program. Chemicals of high concern, defined as GreenScreen Benchmark 1 or List Translator 1 chemicals are screened out of its products. Using this framework, the company has reformulated or developed from scratch an entirely new suite of formulations that meet the needs of brands to create the vast array of denim styles consumers have come to expect, such as stone wash, light bleached finishes, and authentic worn products. One of Garmon’s most innovative products is avol oxy white, a bleaching agent used to obtain localized worn effects on denim.

Garmon Chemicals is now partnering with Invista, owners of the Lycra® brand. They have created a collection of knit denim concept garments using fabrics made with Lycra® Hybrid technology and finished with Garmon’s screened chemical formulations.

Thanks to leaders such as such as Levi Strauss and Company and Garmon Chemicals, the creation of a list of positive chemical formulations that result from screening each ingredient will soon be just as important as developing and maintaining a list of restricted chemicals. The future is about disclosure, transparency, and hazard assessment rather than restricting chemicals and managing risk.  GreenScreen for Safer Chemicals is poised to help companies transition down this new path.