STeP by OEKO-TEX® by is an independent certification system developed by the Oeko-Tex International association for brands, retailers and manufacturers from the textile and leather industry to assure the transparency and sustainability by testing and auditing. It focuses on environmentally and social responsible textile and apparel facilities. STeP by OEKO-TEX® certification helps to reduce the hazards and risks throughout the supply chain from fibre production to finished goods. All textile companies can be certified, for example, fibre manufacturers, spinning mills, weaving mills, embroiderers, knitwear companies, finishing companies, manufacturers of ready-made clothes, foam and mattress manufacturers and technology logistics centres. In the leather industry, all processes can be certified, from the beam house to the tannery to the manufacturer of ready-made clothes. Manufacturing facility shall be eligible to use the Made in Green by OEKO-TEX® logo on their product after successful certification of STeP by OEKO-TEX®. OEKO-TEX 100 certification is the main pre-requisite for STeP by OEKO-TEX® certification.

The objective of the STeP by OEKO-TEX® certification to establish a sustainable, environment friendly production process, improve workplace safety and buildup socially acceptable working conditions in production facilities throughout the entire textile supply chain. Certified companies can continuously enhance their environmental performance, social responsibility and efficiency to following the on going STeP by OEKO-TEX® update process.

STeP by OEKO-TEX® is the voluntary certification program and is suitable for any organization i.e. large, medium and small considering improving its ethical & environmental practices and sustainability to meet the expectations of all stakeholders. STeP by OEKO-TEX® certification acceptability is going high day by day and mostly European customers demands STeP by OEKO-TEX® certification from their suppliers even it is becoming a pre-requisite of European retailers to start the business relationship with global supply chain. STeP by OEKO-TEX® awareness is also rising among end users of textile products even now a days consumers do not just expect the responsible use of chemicals in textile production and high-quality textiles those are not harmful to health. They also want the products that they buy to be manufactured under environment friendly and socially acceptable conditions. With STeP by OEKO-TEX®, brands, retailers and manufacturers get a target-based solution for successfully meeting growing market requirements with regard to sustainability and for clearly and transparently documenting their efforts along the entire textile supply chain.

However, it is not enough as NGOs like Greenpeace and consumers demands a manufacturing processes which are environment friendly. One of the example is the Greenpeace detox campaign. It completely aims to eliminate eleven hazardous chemical groups from textile production. DETOX TO ZERO by OEKO-TEX® helps production facilities to establish an efficient chemical management system that enables them to identify harmful substances and achievements should be communicated in credible way.