Today Fashion for Good and Textile Exchange jointly release “The Textile Tracer Assessment”, a detailed guide of physical tracer technologies applicable to the textile supply chain. With the increasing importance placed on fibre provenance, authenticity and production, and the growing number of technologies available, the assessment provides fashion ecosystem stakeholders with an overview to evaluate and determine which tracer technologies would best suit their sustainability and operational needs.

This guide assesses promising physical tracer technologies applicable for improving traceability verification in the textile industry. Today, there is a lack of reliable verification for fibres, materials, and finished products. Scaling and further implementation of physical tracer technologies can help to address key industry challenges for traceability and help authenticate sustainability standards and certification. 

“The Textile Tracer Assessment provides much needed analysis and guidance to the textile industry players seeking clarity and direction to better understand and implement physical tracing technologies in their supply chains. This is only the beginning of this collaborative project, as more technologies mature and improved capabilities are added, it will provide the industry with an indispensable tool for traceability implementation.“ — Katrin Ley, Managing Director at Fashion for Good

The Textile Tracer Assessment is a tool for stakeholders across the supply chain from suppliers, to brands, to certification bodies, who are motivated to explore and implement physical tracer technologies to supplement existing traceability models.

BENCHMARKING KEY TECHNOLOGIES

Tracer technologies are solutions that analyse the microparticle composition of fibres, materials, and finished products (forensic tracers) OR apply tracer substances at a certain point in the supply chain, to be detected later to verify origin (additive tracers).

The forensic tracer category includes isotope/elemental profiling tracers and DNA analysis tracers. The additive tracer category includes synthetic/artificial DNA tracers, ink/rare earth fluorescent tracers, and optical fingerprints (watermarks and prints).