30 years of expertise as a foundation for the future
About OEKO-TEX®
The vision of the OEKO-TEX® Association, which was founded in March 1992 through a partnership between the Hohenstein Research Institute and the Austrian Textile Research Institute (OETI), is still reflected today in the organisation’s core values: trust, safety and sustainability.
For three decades, OEKO-TEX® has pursued the goal of building trust for companies and consumers and enabling them to make responsible decisions to protect people and the planet.
“Our services bring transparency to the international textile and leather industry supply chains,” says OEKO-TEX® Secretary General Georg Dieners. “They enable all stakeholders to make mindful decisions that help preserve our planet for future generations.”
OEKO-TEX® market leadership
In 1992, 20 years before the United Nations announced the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), OEKO-TEX® launched STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX®, now one of the best-known labels for product safety.
“It emerged from the Schadstoffgeprüft nach ÖTN 100 (tested for harmful substances according to ÖTN 100), developed by OETI in 1989 to address increasing public interest in textile ecology and health,” the Austrian Textile Research Institute reminds us.
The limit values and test methods on which STANDARD100 by OEKO-TEX® is based were internationally standardised and are adapted to the latest scientific findings and legislation at least once a year – a principle that is applied to all OEKO-TEX® standards. Prof. Dr Stefan Mecheels, owner of the textile testing service provider Hohenstein, adds: “From the very beginning, we have considered the needs of all players in the textile value chain and continue to create solutions for current and future market requirements.”
At least seven SDGs are firmly integrated in the OEKO-TEX® product portfolio. For example, Good Health & Well-Being (SDG 3) and Clean Water & Sanitation (SDG 6) are reflected in the STeP by OEKO-TEX® factory certification and Responsible Consumption & Production (SDG 12) and Climate Action (SDG 13) are implemented through the comprehensive MADE IN GREEN by OEKO-TEX® product label.
Today, the international association consists of 17 independent research and testing institutes focused on textile and leather, with contact offices in over 60 countries. They are responsible for the joint development of the test methods and limit values in the OEKO-TEX® Standards and carry out laboratory tests and factory audits according to globally uniform specifications.
