Paving the Way for Sustainable Chemical Management

About Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC)

Founded in 2011, the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) is revolutionizing the textile and footwear industries by promoting sustainable chemical management practices. Today, their community includes over 330 ZDHC signatories, all dedicated to a shared vision of a world where better chemistry protects life, land, air, and water. The ZDHC platform is one of the largest and most influential initiatives in the textile industry, focused on eliminating hazardous chemicals from the global supply chain. 

Recognizing the critical need for environmental stewardship, ZDHC collaborates with brands, manufacturers, and other stakeholders to set new standards for safety and sustainability. They provide comprehensive guidelines, tools, and training to ensure the industry adopts safer alternatives and more sustainable processes. The initiative not only focuses on reducing chemical hazards but also enhances transparency and accountability throughout the supply chain, driving meaningful progress towards a safer and more sustainable future. 

The Challenges

Identifying hazardous chemicals in textile manufacturing faces challenges stemming from intricate global supply chains with undisclosed ingredients, subcontractors, and limited transparency. Specialized expertise in chemistry and toxicology is often lacking within companies, hindering risk assessment and mitigation. Regulatory compliance complexity across jurisdictions adds further hurdles, necessitating robust data management systems to maintain transparency and accountability. 

ADEC Innovations Solutions

ADEC Innovations designed, built, and maintains the ZDHC Gateway, an online platform dedicated to promoting sustainable chemical management within the textile, apparel, and footwear industries across over 60 countries. The ZDHC Gateway serves as a comprehensive repository of data from brands, formulators, suppliers, and certification bodies, covering chemical formulations, usage, and compliance information. 

Since its launch in 2017, the Gateway has experienced substantial growth. It now houses a library of over 125,000 chemical products and their associated certification documents, all of which meet the ZDHC Manufacturing Restricted Substances List (MRSL). 

In addition to the ZDHC Gateway, ADEC Innovations developed the Detox Live platform for ZDHC, to integrate data from the Gateway into a publicly accessible format.  ADEC Innovations enhanced this platform in 2023 to provide greater transparency and accountability about supplier participation in the ZDHC program, enabling brands to monitor and verify suppliers’ sustainability efforts effectively. 

Key Benefits

In partnering with ADEC Innovations, ZDHC gained access to a team of specialized developers and support professionals dedicated to enhancing the ZDHC Gateway’s functionality and sustainability initiatives. ADEC Innovations provides ZDHC with seamless access to diverse services, including financial services and tech support for ZDHC clients, as well as multilingual app support available around the clock.