ZDHC is a group of apparel and footwear brands and retailers working together to lead the industry towards zero discharge of hazardous chemicals by 2020

ZDHC was started in 2011, mostly as a response to the Greenpeace DeTox campaign. Part of the initial work established a Joint Roadmap that demonstrated the collaborative efforts and steps needed to lead the apparel and footwear industry towards zero discharge of hazardous chemicals for all products across all pathways by 2020.

Membership has grown from six brands in 2011 to approximately twenty today. The group is diverse and includes:

• Brands from Europe and the U.S.
• Sportswear, Luxury and Fashion brands
• Multi-billion dollar companies as well as small niche brands

Guiding Principles of ZDHC

Apparel and footwear supply chains are long, complicated and continuously moving into developing countries where labor is cheap. This means manufacturing facilities and workers may lack the knowledge and training necessary to implement a chemicals management program. ZDHC has established and implemented the following competencies to drive their work

• Capture and share best practices
• Use management systems thinking
• Open transparent communication
• Engage with stakeholders across different regions and cultures

Highlights of the second Joint Roadmap

The second Joint Roadmap was released at the end of 2013. Projects were collapsed into seven workstreams to provide much needed focus.

2014 and 2015 were productive years for ZDHC. They made significant strides towards their goal of zero discharge of hazardous chemicals, including the establishment of a standalone ZDHC legal entity based in Amsterdam and strengthening the organization and ZDHC Program.

New processes and program documents were developed and published. These documents signify a standardized approach to tools and processes, resulting in a reduction in workload, simplicity, improved communication and cost savings. Documents include:

• Framework for the Prioritization of Hazardous Chemicals to prioritize chemicals of concern

• Chemical Guidance Sheets.  Provide information about the 11 classes of hazardous chemicals identified by Greenpeace

• A Manufacturing Restricted Substance List, (MRSL)

• A Research List. This contains chemical substances where an alternative may not exist. The list sends a message that ZDHC will phase these chemicals out once an acceptable alternative has been identified

Focus Areas of the Updated Joint Roadmap

The ZDHC Program provided a Joint Roadmap update in late 2015. The update transitions seven workstreams into four focus areas to strategically support all elements of the supply chain in adopting improved chemical management practices.

• Wastewater quality. They will benchmark existing standards and existing data at facilities, develop a guidance document and promote the inclusion of functioning wastewater treatment plants at manufacturing facilities

• The MRSL. They will update the MRSL and include leather-processing chemicals. In addition, they will align on a conformance process, engage stakeholders and scale the tool

• They will define a process for finding safer alternatives, develop a process to add and remove substances from the research list and engage with stakeholders to find alternatives to chemicals of concern

• Audit protocol. They will align the audit protocol with the Higg index, develop and finalize an assessment process and engage groups to promote the adoption and use of the audit protocol

In addition to these 4 focus areas, they have also established work that cuts across all focus areas. Notably:

• Data and disclosure
• Training

I am looking forward to updating the progress made by ZDHC in 2016 and beyond!

Impact to your business

Questions to Consider:

• Does your company track and implement best practices towards managing chemicals
• Do you have a chemicals management strategy in place to respond and address chemicals of concern?

For help with any issue associated with chemicals, contact Amanda Cattermole at (415) 412 8406 or Amanda@cattermoleconsulting.com. We can help you develop powerful solutions to protect your company and brand reputation that result in safer products manufactured in cleaner supply chains.

Tips and Insights contains information to help you make informed chemicals management decisions. Each post highlights a particular topic and includes questions for you to consider .