Safer Commodity Screening Program
Commodity chemicals account for about 80 percent of the chemicals by volume in the apparel supply chain. After use, they are treated and discharged with wastewater.
Historically, customary testing and screening methods have proven cost-prohibitive and ineffective for commodity chemicals. As a result, companies have had limited visibility into potential contaminants from upstream processes that could lead downstream environmental impacts.
Levi Strauss & Co, NimkarTek, and Scivera have partnered to develop a new process to expand safer chemical selection for commodity chemicals.
Safer Commodity Screening (formerly SC for CC) enables the efficient screening, scoring, and tracking of this critical part of textile chemical throughput at dyehouses, mills, and laundries. Factories and commodity chemical traders can consult scores and trends to make more informed commodity chemical purchasing and use decisions – and to phase out use of poorly-performing commodities – that will help them achieve safer, more transparent, more sustainable chemical supply chains.
For the first time, suppliers can ensure the commodity chemicals that are purchased, used, and sold in the apparel supply chain are safe and any substances restricted for use by the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) organization or impurities are identified.
LS&Co. will establish Safer Commodity Screening as a requirement for all relevant manufacturing suppliers and work with NimkarTek and Scivera to scale the program across its supplier base in 2020. NimkarTek and Scivera are also supporting the expansion of the program to other brands in 2020.
Read about the Safer Commodity Screening Program process, common commodity chemicals, and FAQs.
Register for the Safer Commodity Screening platform and begin entering your commodity chemicals.
