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Deforestation-Free Products
The main driver of deforestation and forest degradation is the expansion of agricultural land, which is linked to the production of seven commodities: cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber, soya, and wood; and some of their derived products, such as leather or furniture.
Microplastics
Overall, around 145,000 tonnes of microplastics are estimated to be used in the EU each year. And 42,000 tonnes of these microplastics end up in the environment from products intentionally containing them. The largest contribution with up to 16,000 tonnes is made by granules from artificial turf pitches.
GENERAL PRODUCT SAFETY
There are many directives and regulations that address product compliance. Still it is practically impossible to cover all risks for all consumer products. The solution is a broad-based legislation to fill possible gaps and to complement existing and future legislation.
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Leather tanning
Tanning is the method of preserving animal skin, with or without hair using tannins. These are acidic chemical compounds that stabilise the fibre structure of the skin and prevent it from decaying, decomposing and oxidising.
Dyes and pigments
Textile dyes and pigments are chemical substances used to colour fabrics. The main difference between both is that dyes are soluble in water and pigments are not.
Softening of textiles
Softeners are finishing agents that are applied to textile materials to provide them with a pleasing touch or feel. As a general rule, the softening agents applied are lubricating agents, which facilitate the fiber sliding within the fabric structure, thus granting easier deformation and creasing of the fabric.
Colour fastness of textiles
Many products - such as textiles, inks/paints/coatings, plastics, paper, - are coloured with dyes and pigments. These colours can fade or change when the products are exposed to water, light, rubbing, washing, perspiration etc.
Flame retardants in textiles
Flame retardants are typically added to consumer products to meet flammability standards for furniture, textiles, electronics, and building products like insulation. Fire resistant fabrics could be of two types: natural flame resistant fibers or treated with a flame resistant chemical.
Textile finishing and coating
In order to add the required functional properties to textiles, it is customary to subject textile (yarn and/or fabric) to different types of physical and chemical treatments. Textile wet processing is done on manufactured fabrics or yarns.
Biocides and preservatives for textiles
Biocides are chemicals intended to kill or destroy living (micro)organisms. Preservatives are chemicals used in textiles to prevent the growth of microorganisms. Both biocides and preservatives are biocidal substances which are regulated due to major health and environmental concerns.
What are textiles?
Everybody knows textiles. Textiles are materials made from fibers, thin threads or filaments that are natural or synthetic or a combination of both. Textile fibers can be classified in natural (organic) fibres and man-made (synthetic, industrial) fibers, there is an enormous variety of textile fiber types available.
Wrinkle finishing of textiles
A wrinkle, is a fold, ridge or crease in clothes or garments. Sometimes wrinkles are intentionally added to create a “look” but more often wrinkles are not desired and fabrics are treated to become “wrinkle-free”. In both cases chemical finishing techniques are applied to the fibers or fabrics.
UV stabilisers
Materials intended for outdoor usage will be exposed to direct sunlight (ultraviolet radiation). This may cause undesirable degradation of the (plastic) materials such as colour change or loss of elongation (elasticity, stretch).
