Both we, the Cradle to Cradle® experts from the internationally active consulting institute EPEA GmbH - part of Drees & Sommer, and the Beneficial Design Institute GmbH, are committed to developing and selling textile products without harmful chemicals. In several projects, textiles and products from various fashion manufacturers and retail chains were tested and optimized according to Cradle to Cradle design principles.

One of our current joint projects is being implemented as a pilot project together with Lidl and the CHT Group — a globally active specialty chemicals company based in Tübingen. LIDL's textile products not only consist of biodegradable materials, but also use biodegradable printing pastes, which were specially developed as part of the joint project with the CHT Group to meet the strict criteria of the Cradle to Cradle Certified™ gold-level product standard.

All products in the pilot project were certified at gold and silver levels. Together with Prof. Michael Braungart, co-developer of the Cradle to Cradle principles, our scientists assessed the ingredients of these textiles according to C2C requirements, sorted out all pollutants and supported the optimization of the printing paste for 18 months. The overall design and project management is carried out by Beneficial Design Institute GmbH.

(2018 - TO DATE)

EPEA Services

• Scientific monitoring of phase-out of problematic substances
• Community building along the supply chain
• Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Certification at gold and silver levels

benefits

• The ingredients are positively defined and optimized for reuse
• Innovation leads to increased use of healthy printing inks