Meet The BHive® Partner OEKO-TEX®

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We believe that cooperation in the industry is essential when it comes to initiating change. Therefore, The BHive® partners with organizations and industry stakeholders with similar goals. Here, we would like to introduce our industry partner OEKO-TEX®.

About OEKO-TEX®

With over 25 years of experience, OEKO-TEX® is one of the world’s leaders in enabling consumers and companies to protect our planet through responsible action.

The OEKO-TEX® Association consists of 18 independent research and testing institutes in the field of textile and leather ecology in Europe and Japan with contact offices in more than 60 countries. Currently, 14,000 manufacturers, brands and retailers in nearly 100 countries work with OEKO-TEX®.

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OEKO-TEX® standards and systems include: 

Product labels according to

Production facility certification according to

  • STeP by OEKO-TEX® (Sustainable Textile & Leather Production)

Chemicals certification according to

Chemical management analysis according to

OEKO-TEX® and The BHive® as industry partners

In 2018 OEKO-TEX® started a collaboration with GoBlu for an early stage and development phase of synchronizing OEKO-TEX® ECO PASSPORT certified products with GoBlu's chemical management tool The BHive™. 

Through this partnership, any producer or trader using The BHive® can see which of their products has an ECO PASSPORT certification. It is also possible to compare the data against other 3rd party standards and certifications.

OEKO-TEX® then further integrated with The BHive® by synchronizing their work with the STeP certification. Users of The BHive® can export their chemical inventories in a STeP chemical inventory format and upload it to the OEKO-TEX® system. At the same time, users can connect with their OEKO-TEX® institute and share their latest inventory.

The OEKO-TEX® community values The BHive® as a new innovative system. The BHive® simplifies the daily life of the auditors - giving them a tool for a fast and innovative way to check all chemicals on-site. Plus, it gives the users immediate access to additional information on the chemicals used. 

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From OEKO-TEX® 

"Collaboration between companies that drive the chemical and textile market towards a more sustainable and transparent future is a crucial pillar of our OEKO-TEX® philosophy. With the modular product portfolio of OEKO-TEX® The BHive® is a perfect fit simplifying processes and giving a better customer experience, for example for our ECO PASSPORT or STeP customers.

As of 1st April 2020 STeP-certified facilities using large quantities of water and chemicals are obliged to provide a detailed wastewater and sludge analysis. A positive aspect of this new regulation is our approach of future conformity with the requirements set by ZDHC. In addition to that we are proud to be part of the procurement Greenpeace Global Textile Procurement Standard.

The OEKO-TEX® Association is constantly developing, adapting and improving our Standards according to the newest insights to ensure consumer health. Two future topics within the STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX are the development of specific labels for recycled products as well as GMO tested cotton. 

Another core element is our online OEKO-TEX® label check where consumers and companies can verify the validity of OEKO-TEX® certificates and labels. It displays information about the product, its manufacturers and the supply chain. Through collaboration with The BHive® it is our ambition not only to promote the use of safe chemicals, but also to increase consumer awareness for the chemical set up of manufacturers. The cooperation could therefore serve as a driver to offer such information as part of the MADE IN GREEN label in the future. Consumers and companies could then be able to trace the product back to the chemical inventory of each producer."