AAFA revises restricted substances

The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) has released the second version of the AAFA Restricted Substances List (RSL), which covers home textiles, apparel and footwear. Although the list features only minor changes from the original release (published in June of 2007), the AAFA, with the support of AAFA’s RSL Task Force, will continue to review, update and publish the RSL every 6 months.

“This RSL serves as an important tool for our industry to help them meet critical compliance needs relating to the environment, sustainability and product safety,” said Kevin Burke, president and CEO, AAFA. “Special thanks go to the AAFA Environmental Task Force (ETF), the members of the RSL task force of the ETF, and our RSL peer review group for their time and effort in helping get this update published.” AAFA was the first organization to publish a textile, apparel and footwear industry-wide RSL. On top of monitoring worldwide restricted substances policies and updating the RSL, AAFA continues to offer training sessions and workshops on regulating Restricted Substances in textiles, apparel and footwear.

John Eapen, vice president of environmental, health & safety at American & Efird, Inc. and chairman of the AAFA ETF, added, “Companies throughout the supply chain are increasingly looking to AAFA as a ‘go to’ resource on matters of environment and sustainability, especially as retailers and others are asking their suppliers to come into compliance with this industry wide RSL.”

Currently, the list covers chemicals and other substances whose presence in a product is restricted through a government regulation or law. The list identifies the most restrictive iteration of that regulation. Future versions of the list are expected to include chemicals and substances whose presence, while not regulated by a government authority, are still restricted in practice. Further implementation guideline resources are also being prepared.

Source: ecotextile.com