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The purpose of this standard is to protect animals in
the feather and down supply chain from experiencing
unnecessary harm or trauma, plus provide brands with
the tools to make accurate product claims. Under RDS,
force feeding of birds and live plucking in any form are
prohibited. In addition, the RDS promotes a holistic
animal welfare policy that protects birds from hunger
and thirst, discomfort, pain, injury and disease, and
supports animals living in environments where they
can express normal behavior, such as swimming and
roaming cage-free. The RDS also specifies that the chain
of custody for RDS-certified down remain unbroken
from hatchling to final garment production.
The standard covers the global supply chain from hatchling to
final garment assembly and sets stringent traceability standards.
Products must contain 100 percent RDS certified down to bear the
RDS logo, and blended labeling cannot be used on any consumer-
facing products. Certified products can include blended down
that contains a percentage of certified down to help participating
companies meet overall responsible down consumption goals.
The standard also calls for regular audits and shadow au-
dits by Control Union or other approved certification bodies.
The audit process applies to each step along the supply chain
from hatcheries to sewing factories to warehouses.
Although the RDS standards have been available for a year,
products based on this standard are not expected to enter the
market until 2015, with some companies gradually phasing in
RDS-approved down over time.
Four Paws has fallen short of endorsing RDS, but has been
supportive of the process.
The RDS was originally initiated by The North Face, and
the first version of this standard was developed for them, with
stakeholder input. The current version is based on a collabora-
tive process that involved several apparel industry organizations
Daniel Uretsky, COO of Allied (center) poses with Anne
Gillespie of Textile Exchange (left) and Hong Lee of
Control Union (right) after accepting Allied’s European
and Chinese supply chain RDS certifications at the last
Outdoor Retailer Summer Market.
Down Redone
One way to treat our animal resources with ethics and
respect is to extend the life of the gifts they give to us. As
much as anything, this is done by keeping those precious
resources, whenever possible, out of landfills. So while
it may represent only a small portion of consumption,
outdoor brands, along with traceable down, also now have
access to recycled and reusable options, and the choices
are not limited to blends.
Spanish down provider Navarpluma, for one, recently
decided to completely separate the recycled from the
virgin material it collects for its new Neokdun brand of
eco-friendly down and feathers. To help keep the brand’s
promise clear, Navarpluma is not allow-
ing the blending of Neokdun with any
new or other recycled down material
and also doesn’t allow the blending
of its recycled down and feathers
with any synthetic or other non-
down filling material.
In other words, the Neok-
dun label and hang
tags mean down and
feathers are 100 percent
recycled, 100 percent of
the time.
Of course,
Navarpluma also
wants to make sure
ethical treatment
standards are met at
the top of its value
chain. To that end,
third-party auditing is
done of the re-usable
materials collected,
based on the docu-
mentary traceability
system and code of con-
duct put forth by the Euro-
pean Down and Feather Association. “This stipulates that
no down or feathers harvested in a manner that inflicts
pain upon the animals may be procured or processed,”
says the EDFA. “The [member] companies also included
a corresponding declaration in their purchase agreements
or general terms of business.”
As might be expected, the recycling process starts with
feathers and down collected from finished apparel and bed-
ding that has reached the end of its product lifecycle. “The
down and feather filling normally has a longer lifecycle than
the finished products,” says the company.
The extracted down and feather filling material is then clas-
sified and processed to meet cleanliness standards and other
performance requirements. The process is “eco-friendly,”
using no harmful chemicals, say Navarpluma. Once clean and
bona fide, the down and feather material is ready for apparel
and bedding applications or for delivery in bulk.
Already, Spanish specialty brandTernua has introduced
Neokdun in its Loughor goose down, technical jacket for Fall
2015. It may not represent the best development for geese
farmers; but what’s good for the goose …
Ternua’s Loughor jacket
with Neokdun
Inside
Outdoor
|
Winter
2015
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