The Global Recycled Standard (GRS) is an international, voluntary, full product standard that sets out requirements for third-party certification of recycled content, chain of custody, social and environmental practices, and chemical restrictions. The GRS aims to increase the use of recycled materials in products and reduce/eliminate the harm caused by their production. 

The standard applies to the full supply chain and addresses traceability, environmental principles, social requirements, chemical content, and labelling. It is intended for use with any product that contains at least 20% recycled material.

Each stage of production is required to be certified, beginning at the recycling stage, and ending at the last seller in the final business-to-business transaction. Material collection and material concentration sites are subject to self-declaration, document collection, and on-site visits.  

The GRS certification process includes an initial certification audit, labelling release, transaction certificate, and re-assessment or annual audit. 

Waves & Wild Water use Stanley/Stella recycled polyester garments, which have been certified by the Global Recycling Standard. 

 

A Step Further for the Planet...

• Clothing and textiles currently make up at least 5% of the total amount of waste in global landfill space.
• Between 80 and 100 billion new clothing garments are produced globally every year.
• 87% of the materials and fibres used to make clothing will end up in either incinerators or landfills.
• Only 15% of used textiles are theoretically ‘recycled,’ and of those, up to half are simply shipped abroad to other countries, largely in the Global South where they land in landfills there.
• Landfill sites release equal parts carbon dioxide and methane – the latter greenhouse gas being 28 times more potent than the former over a 100-year period.

Our garment supplier, Stanley/Stella, started using re-cycled cotton in their product range in 2017. Since then, they have increased their recycled cotton product range and even start to use their own fabric cutting waste to create new products. Our King Of Seas t-shirts are partly made using recycled organic cotton from Stanley/Stella cutting waste.

 

You can find out more about the Global Recycling Standard (GRS) here.

You can find out more about Stanley/Stella’s recycled polyesters here.