Glossary
B Corp
B Corporations, or B Corps, are companies verified by B Lab to be purpose-driven. To achieve certification, companies must meet their standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability throughout their entire value chain; they must consider the impact of any decision on workers, customers, community and the environment.
B Lab
B Lab is a non-profit network transforming the global economy to benefit all people, communities and the planet.
B Impact Assessment
The B Impact Assessment is a digital tool provided by B Lab that can help measure, manage and improve positive impact on the environment, communities, customers, suppliers, employees and shareholders. It is the first step towards certification.
Chain of custody
A chain of custody is a paper trail of documentation that verifies different stages of a supply chain comply with the requirements of a certain standard, such as GOTS. A chain of custody also provides traceability of the certified material as it flows through all points of the supply chain.
Company carbon footprint (CCF)
The carbon footprint of a company is an indirect indicator of its consumption of energy, products and services. It measures the amount of carbon emissions which corresponds to a company's activities or products and is a significant measure of its environmental impact. This is usually measured in a unit called tons of CO2 equivalent, written as tCO2.
Cradle-to-gate
Cradle-to-gate refers to the environmental impact of a product from material extraction to the finished product.
Deadstock
At Tekla, deadstock occurs when a product hasn’t been sold and all commercial activities have been exhausted.
Decarbonisation
Decarbonisation is the removal or reduction of carbon dioxide output in the atmosphere. It is achieved by switching to low-carbon and renewable energy sources.
Direct carbon emissions
Direct carbon emissions come from sources that are owned or controlled by a company. Direct emissions are calculated within scope 1.
Downpass
Products labelled with the Downpass guarantee high quality and the certainty that down and feathers used as filling material are ethically sourced and come from tightly controlled and traceable supply chains.
European Down and Feather Association (EDFA)
The European Down and Feather Association is a group of feather and bedding companies that support the gathering of down and feathers under the animal protection laws of the EU. Down certified through the EDFA has been properly obtained without animal cruelty, has met the legal regulations for animal husbandry in the EU and is traceable.
FSC certified
FSC certified is an assurance that all the products are made with, or contain, forest-based materials from FSC-certified forests. FSC-certified forests are managed to strict environmental, social and economic standards.
Indirect carbon emissions
Indirect carbon emissions are emissions that are related to a company, like carbon produced by suppliers manufacturing on its behalf. When measuring a company's emissions using the Greenhouse Gas Protocol method, indirect emissions are calculated within scopes 2 and 3.
Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS)
GOTS is the leading textile processing standard for organic fibres. Strict ecological, social and chemical criteria must be met across the entire supply chain to achieve certification.
Global Recycled Standard (GRS)
The Global Recycled Standard (GRS) is a voluntary product standard for tracking and verifying the content of recycled materials in a final product. The standard applies to the full supply chain and addresses traceability, environmental principles, social requirements, chemical content and labelling.
Governance
Governance encompasses the system by which an organisation is controlled and operates, and how it and its people are held to account. Ethics, risk management, compliance and administration are all elements of governance.
Greenhouse Gases (GHG)
Greenhouse gases are a collection of gases that trap heat in the atmosphere and cause a warming effect. Carbon dioxide and methane are both greenhouse gases and are typically the primary greenhouse gases emitted through human activities.
Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol)
The Greenhouse Gas Protocol sets comprehensive global frameworks to measure and manage greenhouse gas emissions from companies and value chains. It supplies the world's most widely used greenhouse gas accounting standards for corporate reporting on emissions.
Higg Materials Sustainability Index (Higg MSI)
The Higg Materials Sustainability Index compares the environmental impact of different materials so design and development teams can make better choices during materials selection.
Life-cycle assessment (LCA)
Life-cycle assessment (LCA) is a process of evaluating the effects that a product has on the environment over the entire period of its life thereby increasing resource-use efficiency and decreasing liabilities.
Mono-material
A mono-material refers to a product composed of a single material or fibre.
Near-term science-based target
Targets are considered science-based if they are in line with what the latest climate science deems necessary to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement – limiting global warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C. A near-term target is a target that should be achieved by 2030.
Pant
Pant is a deposit-return system for cans and bottles in Denmark. Deposit marks on containers equal certain values (e.g. glass bottles and aluminium cans under 1 litre receive a Pant A mark which is worth 1 DKK), which are refunded back to customers at the point of sale when the can or bottle is returned.
Post-industrial recycled plastic
Post-industrial recycling refers to the recycling of waste generated from the manufacturing process of a source material, in this case, plastic.
Preferred materials and standards
These are certified organic, renewable, regenerated or recycled natural materials and standards that have a lower environmental or social impact compared to conventional material production, defined using data from credible NGOs. The classification table of our preferred materials and standards has been guided by data from the Higg Material Sustainability Index (MSI) (where available), as well as materials and standards classified as preferred by the Textile Exchange.
Product Environmental Footprint
A Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) aims to assess the environmental impact of a product throughout its life cycle, from raw material extraction through to production, use and disposal.
Responsible Wool Standard (RWS)
Responsible Wool Standard (RWS) is a certification for wool farmers and sellers that aims to improve the welfare of sheep and the land they graze on. The RWS standard requires certification holders to meet rigorous animal welfare, land management and social requirements.
Scope 1
Scopes are used to categorise company carbon emissions by source. Emissions in scope 1 are direct emssions resulting from the combustion, or leakage, of fuel from sources that the organisation owns or controls directly. For example, emissions resulting from the burning of fuel in a company vehicle, or at any owned or operated facilities.
Scope 2
Scopes are used to categorise company carbon emissions by source. Emissions in scope 2 are indirect emssions resulting from energy purchased by the organisation for electricity, heating and cooling at any owned or operated facilities.
Scope 3
Scopes are used to categorise company carbon emissions by source. Emissions in scope 3 are indirect emssions resulting from all other business operations and activities not included in scope 1 and 2, and from sources not owned or controlled by the organisation. For example, the emissions resulting from the production of an organisation’s products, the transportation of those products and other business activities such as employees business travel.
Scope 3 emissions are further broken down into 15 categories. For example, scope 3 category 4 covers all emissions resulting from upstream transportation; scope 3 category 9 covers all emissions resulting from downstream transportation.
Supply chain
Supply chain refers to the production stages required to manufacture a product, from sourcing through to distribution. Processes such as sewing, dyeing, yarn spinning or fibre-growing that happen at tiers 1, 2, 3 and 4 form the supply chain.
Textile Exchange
Textile Exchange is a global nonprofit that develops, manages and promotes leading industry standards for textiles. It collects and publishes critical industry data and insights that enable companies to measure, manage and track their use of preferred fibres.
Tier 1
Supply chains are often complex, involving multiple production stages that are broken down into tiered systems. The tier 1 stage of a supply chain comprises factories that manage cutting, sewing, assembling and packaging.
Tier 2
Supply chains are often complex, involving multiple production stages that are broken down into tiered systems. The tier 2 stage of a supply chain comprises processing facilities for fabric production. Weaving, printing, dying, laundering and embroidery are done at this tier.
Tier 3
Supply chains are often complex, involving multiple production stages that are broken down into tiered systems. The tier 3 stage of a supply chain comprises processing facilities for yarn spinning and fibre production.
Tier 4
Supply chains are often complex, involving multiple production stages that are broken down into tiered systems. The tier 4 stage of a supply chain comprises suppliers of raw materials, such as cotton farms.
Trim
The materials or components of a product other than its main fabric. This can include thread, buttons, zips, labels or lining.
Upstream
Upstream refers to activities before the point of sale. Simply put, activities during the design, manufacturing, shipping and sale of a product are categorised as upstream.
Downstream
Downstream refers to activities after the point of sale. Simply put, shipping to a customer, the use of a product and its disposal are categorised as downstream.
Verified Carbon Standard (VCS)
The Verified Carbon Standard is a voluntary greenhouse gas GHG carbon offset programme, developed and run by the non-profit Verra. By offsetting through VCS, a company purchases carbon credits, which VCS issues to projects that reduce or remove GHG emissions.