Archroma secures C2C Material Health Gold for 200+ products, advancing safer chemistry and circular fashion – IFAB MEDIA

Archroma’s Contribution to Sustainable Development Goals through Chemical Innovation

Cradle to Cradle Certification and Its Impact on SDGs

Archroma, a global entity in specialty chemicals, has affirmed its commitment to sustainable industrial practices by achieving Cradle to Cradle Certified Material Health Gold level for ten of its product groups. This certification, under the rigorous Version 4.0 standard, encompasses approximately 200 individual products and directly supports the advancement of several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

• The certification provides a verifiable assurance of chemical safety for both human health and the environment, a foundational principle for achieving a circular economy.
• It enables textile manufacturers and fashion brands to confidently utilize these certified products, facilitating the creation of sustainable end-products and promoting responsible consumption patterns.
• This initiative is a significant step towards cleaner chemical usage and supports the global transition to more sustainable production models, aligning with key SDG targets.

Alignment with Key Sustainable Development Goals

1. SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
   • The Cradle to Cradle certification is central to achieving sustainable production patterns by ensuring the environmentally sound management of chemicals throughout their life cycle.
   • Archroma’s SUPER SYSTEMS+ solutions matrix allows industry partners to quantify and measure the environmental impact of processing solutions, promoting resource efficiency.
   • By providing safe chemical inputs, Archroma facilitates safe recycling and composting, which are essential for a circular economy and reducing waste generation.
2. SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being
   • The Material Health standard evaluates product composition to eliminate hazardous chemicals, thereby protecting the health of both factory workers and end-consumers.
3. SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
   • The certification of products like the Blue Magic pretreatment concept, which includes the water-saving IMEROL BLUE auxiliary, directly contributes to improving water-use efficiency in industrial processes.
   • Ensuring chemical safety helps prevent water pollution, protecting aquatic ecosystems.
4. SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
   • Archroma’s achievement represents a significant innovation in the chemical industry, promoting the adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies and industrial processes.

Certified Product Portfolio and Sustainable Solutions

The certified product portfolio spans a wide range of applications in the textile and paper industries, each contributing to specific sustainability objectives.

• Dyes: Includes reactive (AVITERA SE), acid (ERIOFAST), disperse (TERASIL WW), indigo, and sulfur dyes (DIRESUL EVOLUTION BLACK), offering solutions that save resources, provide high fastness, and are free from harmful compounds.
• Chemical Auxiliaries: Features a full series of products for pretreatment, sizing, optical brightening (ULTRAPHOR), and dyeing.
• Innovative Systems: The Blue Magic pretreatment concept, comprising IMEROL BLUE, SIRRIX NE LIQ (a biodegradable neutralizing agent), and BACTOSOL SAP NEW LIQ, is designed to save water and accelerate processing times.
• Paper Industry Solutions: The certification also extends to low-sulfide sulfur dyes for the paper industry, demonstrating a broad commitment to sustainable practices across sectors.

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

The article on Archroma’s commitment to circularity in the textile industry addresses and connects to several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The primary focus on sustainable production, chemical safety, and resource efficiency directly aligns with the core principles of these goals.

• SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production

  This is the most prominent SDG in the article. The entire discussion revolves around shifting the textile industry towards more sustainable practices. Archroma’s efforts to achieve Cradle to Cradle certification for its products are a direct contribution to creating sustainable production patterns by ensuring chemical safety, promoting circularity, and reducing environmental impact.

• SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure

  The article highlights Archroma’s role as a leader in providing innovative solutions (“cleaner chemistries”) to make the textile industry more sustainable. By developing and certifying products that save resources and are safer for the environment, the company is contributing to upgrading industrial processes and promoting the adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies.

• SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

  The article mentions that Archroma’s certifications are designed to help its partners—”textile mills and fashion brands”—achieve their own sustainability goals. This collaborative approach, where one company’s innovation enables sustainability throughout the supply chain, exemplifies the multi-stakeholder partnerships needed to achieve the SDGs.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

Based on the article’s focus on chemical management, resource efficiency, and circularity, several specific SDG targets can be identified.

1. Target 12.4: Environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes

   This target is directly addressed through Archroma’s achievement of “Cradle to Cradle Certified Material Health Gold level.” The article explains that this standard “evaluates the chemical composition of products for safety to humans and the environment,” which is the foundation for “safe recycling and composting.” This commitment to non-toxic chemical cycles is the essence of Target 12.4.

2. Target 12.2: Sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources

   The article explicitly mentions products designed for resource efficiency. For example, the “AVITERA SE” dye range is described as “resource-saving,” and the “IMEROL BLUE” bleaching auxiliary “saves water and speeds processing time.” These product innovations contribute directly to the more efficient use of natural resources in the textile production process.

3. Target 12.5: Substantially reduce waste generation

   The overarching theme of “advancing circularity for the textile industry” supports this target. The Cradle to Cradle certification ensures that products are made with “safe chemicals,” which are “essential for safe recycling and composting.” This focus on designing products for a circular economy, where materials can be safely reused or returned to the environment, is a key strategy for reducing waste generation.

4. Target 9.4: Upgrade industries to make them sustainable

   Archroma is actively contributing to this target by providing the textile industry with “cleaner chemistries” and “intelligent effects.” The article states that the company’s goal is to “lead the shift to a more sustainable world” by offering products and systems that allow “industry professionals to combine processing solutions… while delivering measurable environmental impact.” This represents a direct effort to retrofit an industry with cleaner, more efficient, and environmentally sound technologies.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

Yes, the article mentions and implies several indicators that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets.

• Number of certified sustainable products

  The most direct indicator mentioned is the number of products meeting a high standard of chemical safety. The article states that “ten product groups” representing “approximately 200 individual products” have achieved “Cradle to Cradle Certified Material Health Gold level.” This quantifiable measure serves as a direct indicator for progress on Target 12.4 (environmentally sound management of chemicals).

• Quantifiable resource savings

  The article implies that resource use is being measured. It refers to the “SUPER SYSTEMS+ solutions matrix” which “quantifies” factors and allows for “measurable environmental impact.” Specific product benefits like “saves water” (IMEROL BLUE) and “resource-saving” (AVITERA SE) suggest that progress towards Target 12.2 (efficient use of natural resources) is being tracked through metrics such as water consumption per unit of production.

• Adoption of sustainable technologies by industry partners

  An implied indicator for Target 9.4 is the rate at which these sustainable chemical solutions are adopted by the industry. The article notes that “textile mills and fashion brands can confidently use these products to help achieve Cradle to Cradle certification on their finished fabrics and garments.” The number of partner companies that successfully use these products to achieve their own certifications would be a clear indicator of the successful upgrading of the industry.

4. Table of SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Source: infashionbusiness.com