International testing and certification company Control Union, with U.S. headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has announced that the Responsible Down Standard, introduced in January by outerwear retailer The North Face, is now available to other companies producing down or down-filled products.
The standard enables companies to offer a guarantee that down used in their products is from ethically treated geese. The North Face developed the standard in partnership with Control Union and the nonprofit Textile Exchange, a trade group dedicated to “responsible expansion of textile sustainability across the global textile value chain.”
“The North Face gifted the RDS to Textile Exchange with hopes of engaging more brands and down suppliers to begin to implement the RDS in their own supply chains,” according to a news release.
For more information about the Responsible Down Standard, check the Textile Exchange website, or contact Robert Demianew, Control Union vice president of certifications for North America.
