SANE Standard: certifying the purpose economy

SANE Standard is a fashion sustainability certification that certifies the sustainable manufacturing of fashion products, apparel and home textiles. Raw materials through transparent lens

What is a fashion certification? A potential mitigation measure against greenwashing and eco-opportunism  

Sustainable fashion certifications are third-party certification programs that verify fashion companies’ sustainability claims. The demand for such programs has arisen due to two interconnected factors. Amidst the ongoing climate crisis, many people are inclined to pay a premium for sustainable products and participate in the purpose economy. 

A consumer study conducted by First Insight and the Baker Retailing Center at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School in 2021 has shown that between half and two-thirds of the respondents said they would pay extra for environmentally friendly goods.

With this concern for the climate crisis and interest in sustainable products comes a widespread inability among consumers to identify them, exacerbated by the phenomenon of greenwashing. A more recent survey, in fact, the 2023 iteration of PDI Technologies’s “Business of Sustainability Index,” has shown that 74 percent of the interviewed American consumers worry about the environmental impact of the goods they purchase. Still, they cannot identify sustainable businesses, with 79 percent wishing there was an easier way to identify companies that practice environmental responsibility.

For businesses taking part in the purpose economy, obtaining a sustainable certification can be a tool to verify their claims, set themselves apart from competitors, and empower potential customers to make choices that are better aligned with their ethos. In the realm of fashion, sustainability certifications can verify apparel brands’ environmental and social performance by assessing the impact on the environment of their upstream activities and the social performance of their operations across the supply chain. 

SANE Standard – a holistic fashion certification from Berlin – against eco-opportunism  

SANE Standard is a fashion sustainability certification and a multi-stakeholder initiative that aims to certify the sustainable manufacturing of various fashion products, including apparel and home textiles. It follows a holistic approach by verifying criteria in the realms of environmental protection, workers’ rights, and consumers’ health. 

Their commitment to a holistic approach to fashion starts from their internal organization. There are, in fact, thirteen members on the certification’s Board of Advisory, each with a distinctive background and area of expertise. Based in the German capital and Endorsed by the Federal State of Berlin, SANE Standard is valid worldwide and is a member of the United Nations Fashion and Lifestyle Network. This fashion certification is aligned with the new EU Green Claims Directive. It focuses on ensuring a desirable image in line with fashion, with high ecological, social, and consumer safety criteria and product-specific requirements. 

It took 5 years of research and consultations with industry stakeholders to develop the first version of the standard. In its current iteration, SANE Standard certifies the usage of low-impact materials and verifies the chemical content in the final products, ensuring customers’ safety, the environmental footprint in the products’ processing stages, and the implementation of fair working conditions and remuneration for the textile industry workers. 

Sustainable manufacturing and textile raw materials 

Textile raw materials and their production account for a sizable chunk of the fashion industry’s value chain greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. According to the McKinsey and Global Fashion Agenda (GFA) 2020 report “Fashion on Climate,” in 2018, 38 percent of the apparel and footwear value chain GHG emissions came from material production. 

SANE-certified products comprise at least 90 percent of a SANE Standard Approved Material. The SANE Standard approved material list includes a plethora of textile raw materials, including natural fibers such as hemp, linen, and organic cotton, semi-synthetic fibers like Lyocell and Mycelium leather, and synthetic ones like Recycled Polyester. 

For these fashion raw materials and products to obtain this certification, they cannot contain the chemicals on the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) at levels above those dedicated by the European Union’s REACH regulation.

Regarding chemical input and output, fashion companies cannot employ the chemicals listed on the ZDHC’s Manufacturing Restricted Substance List for a product to obtain this certification during the processing phase. At the same time, the wastewater from textile treatment facilities has to be treated before its release into the natural environment. In addition, for textile raw materials that are marketed with specific sustainable attributes, for instance, “bio-based,” “organic,” or “recycled,” the fashion company requesting the certification must produce documentation proving the veracity of such claims.

Against eco-opportunism – SANE Standard: Behind the certification: certifying the purpose economy 

SANE Standard certified products’ components are manufactured in facilities holding the stand’s scope certificate or another recognized certification. By recognizing credible existing standards with equivalent requirements, SANE Standard reduces redundancy and audit duplication.  

To obtain SANE Standard certification, production facilities must be certified by an accredited third-party certifier unless they can provide upfront compliance with SANE Standard requirements. The certification process consists of a pre-assessment phase, a material assessment phase, and a manufacturing phase. During the first phase, brands complete an online pre-assessment, which is then followed by a report carried out by SANE. 

During the second phase of the certification process, a material production audit is carried out by a third party in case of missing proof of compliance. If there is sufficient proof of compliance, the brand is granted the material approval instead. A similar pattern is followed in the third and final stage of the process at the end of which the brand is given a manufacturer scope certificate in case of proof of compliance. At the end of this process, the product gets its SANE certificate. 

Against eco-opportunism, an emphasis on transparency – SANE Standard’s approach to the transparency issue 

A lack of transparency, antithetical to the ethos of the purpose economy, is now part of the modus operandi of many companies in the fashion industry. What has emerged from Fashion Revolution’s “Fashion Transparency Index” 2023, among 250 of the world’s biggest fashion companies and retailers worldwide, is that progress on transparency in the industry is still moving at a snail’s pace. The report Traceability section has an overall average score of 23 percent, with over half of the businesses providing consumers with little to no information.

SANE Standard allows fashion brands to certify their commitment to transparency by focusing on traceability and a straightforward chain of custody to ensure the credibility of the claims made about the final products. This can be achieved through the use of a segregated chain of custody, where SANE Standard approved Materials and the certified products are identified and stored separately in all production facilities. 

To achieve compliance, these companies must keep documentation and records of the origin, type, incoming quantities, processing, flow within the unit, outgoing quantities, and destination of their goods. In addition, all subcontractors involved in manufacturing SANE Standard approved Materials and certified products should be disclosed and comply with SANE Standard requirements, with potential audits if necessary.

The United Nations Fashion and Lifestyle Network

The United Nations Fashion and Lifestyle Network, an online platform hosted by the United Nations (UN) and established with the goal of advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).