What are you looking for?
Recycled materials, textile content claims, organic and specialty fiber content, supply chain traceability, and more
Sustainability is under increasing global scrutiny across the apparel and textile industries, especially within complex global supply chains. Through the Textile Exchange Suite of Services, you can verify, trace, and communicate recycled, organic, and responsibly sourced material claims with confidence. These certification programs are designed for you whether you are a brand, retailer, manufacturer, supplier, or processor working to meet rising expectations for transparency, responsible sourcing, and circularity. By using internationally recognized Textile Exchange standards and third-party verification, you can strengthen credibility in your sustainability claims while supporting compliance with evolving market and regulatory requirements.
The suite provides a clear pathway for you to demonstrate responsible material use and production practices through both Full Scope and Secondary Scope Certifications, each designed to support different materials and supply chain needs:
Full Scope Certifications (Tiers 1-4, production stages from Raw Material Production to Finished Goods):
Secondary Scope Certifications (Tiers 1-3, production stages from Primary Processing to Finished Goods)
SCS Global Services is a globally recognized third-party certifier of recycled content and sustainability claims, with a long-standing role in environmental and sustainability verification, certification, auditing, testing, and standards development. Within the Textile Exchange Suite of Services, SCS Global Services supports you in verifying and tracking material claims across textile and apparel supply chains using internationally recognized standards.
You can rely on SCS Global Services to support your certification journey across Textile Exchange programs with a focus on transparency, traceability, and responsible production. Their expertise helps you navigate certification requirements and strengthen confidence in your sustainability claims across recycled, organic, and responsibly sourced materials.
The Textile Exchange Suite of Services is structured as a group of distinct but related standards that are applied based on material type and sourcing objectives. Each program is designed to address specific certification needs, such as recycled content, organic fiber sourcing, or responsible animal fiber production.
You can apply different standards within the same supply chain depending on the materials being used, with each certification maintaining its own requirements while operating within a shared system for consistent material identification and verification.
The Textile Exchange Suite of Services uses a chain of custody system that tracks certified materials from raw material source through final product. This allows you to maintain traceability at each stage of production using documented verification and transaction records across the supply chain.
Each certification is applied at relevant points in the supply chain to support accurate tracking of material claims, helping ensure certified inputs are consistently identified, separated, and verified as they move through production.
Textile Exchange program participation carries many potential benefits, which can include:
Who is allowed to use the GRS/RCS logo?
To make product-related claims on final products intended for consumer sale, certification is required. Claims by certified organizations can only be made by organizations that hold a valid scope certificate to the applicable Standard(s). If your company operates at any point within the supply chain between the farm or material recycler and the brand, certification is required to make claims. A retailer selling their own brand or private label products also requires certification to make product-related claims. For GRS certified products, the recycled content must be at or above 50%.
Source: TE-301-V1.3-Standards-Claims-Policy, Section D: Informational Statements, Figure B3.1.2
What is the minimum percentage of recycled material required in a product to qualify for GRS and RCS product-specific labeling?
Source: Recycled Claim Standard, Section A3.1a & Global Recycled Standard, Section A3.2b
What is the difference between “GRS” and “GRS (No Label)”?
a. GRS is used for ≥ 50% certified content.
b. GRS (No Label) is used for 20% ≤ x < 50% certified content
c. RCS 100 is used for ≥ 95% certified recycled content.
d. RCS Blended is used for 5% ≤ x < 95% certified content
e. RCS (No Label) is used for ≥ 5% certified content
We are aiming to meet the Amazon Climate Pledge Friendly criteria. Which Textile Exchange Standards are eligible for this?
Can our company use the GRS logo if the packaging is certified, but the product inside is not?
Product-related claims made on or about packaging may only be used if the packaging itself is certified to the relevant Standard (e.g., a GRS-certified recycled polyester polybag). A clear statement must identify the packaging as the certified “product” (e.g., “This polybag contains 100% GRS). Any other logos or brand names appearing on the packaging, hangtag, or label must be kept at a reasonable distance from the Standard logo and claim to avoid any confusion that the claim applies to the brand or product itself.
Source: TE-301-V1.3-Standards-Claims-Policy, Sections B3.1.6: Certified Packaging, Hangtags, and Labels
Our company is not GRS certified, but we would like to make informational statements indicating that our products use GRS certified packaging. Is this allowed under the Textile Exchange guidelines?
Informational statements are pre-approved messages that describe a relevant standard and provide additional context to claims made in other categories. Non-certified companies may use these ready-to-use informational statements, which are available in Section D2 of the Standards Claims Policy, V1.3. Companies that wish to expand on these statements or adjust the language to better align with their marketing style—strictly for non-product-related uses—may do so, provided the original meaning is preserved. All proposed language (in English) must be submitted to [email protected] for review.
Source: TE-301-V1.3-Standards-Claims-Policy, Section D: Informational Statements
Our company is in the process of obtaining certification. Are we allowed to make claims while working towards certification?
A corporate commitment statement can be made by an organization that is working toward certification. In many cases, committed organizations are not yet selling fully certified products and therefore do not yet qualify to make an assured product-related claim. Raw material suppliers, brands, and retailers are all eligible to make commitment statements. Companies that have already met or made progress toward their targets may make progress claims. Corporate commitment claims may only be made by organizations who have registered a public commitment to a relevant Textile Exchange Standard(s) and have set clear goals and realistic timelines for achieving them. Commitment claims must be registered through the Textile Exchange’s online commitment registration form: https://www.tfaforms.com/5062775
Our company would like to use the GRS logo but understand that certification is required. How should we begin the certification process?
To get started, please complete our application and submit it to [email protected]. We will review and reach out to discuss your project and address any questions you may have.
