The Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals Programme (ZDHC) is a multi-stakeholder initiative focused on eliminating hazardous substances from the fashion supply chains and sourcing sustainable alternatives to conventional chemicals. The collaborators include brands, testing facilities, research institutes and chemical companies, with the collective aim to reduce environmental pollution and health hazards directly linked to the fashion’s reliance on toxic substances.(1) The Manufacturing Restricted Substance List (MRSL) issued by ZDHC has been widely adopted across the industry. However, as its focus is on pollution from manufacturing facilities, especially wastewater discharges, other issues such as production of fiber are not currently addressed, and so it has faced criticism for setting less ambitious targets than other available MRSLs.(2,3)
ZERO DISCHARGE OF HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS (ZDHC)
