Green button

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The green button logo

The Green Button was introduced as a German textile seal for corporate social responsibility on September 9, 2019.

The state label was developed by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development in cooperation with the German Society for International Cooperation .

The set for the use of the seal behavior codex demanding environmental and social standards placed on the market textile products is intended to ensure. The ecological product criteria include the ban on plasticizers and dangerous textile chemicals as well as natural fibers that have been tested for harmful substances, while the social product criteria include the ban on child and forced labor, minimum wages and occupational safety . So far, however, only the end of the production chain has been checked (sewing, cutting, dyeing , bleaching ), not cotton cultivation and weaving . An expansion of the Green Button to all other production steps in the textile supply chain is planned for the coming years. In total, a product that is to be labeled with the green button must meet 26 social and environmental standards.

The Green Button was created, among other things, through efforts to prevent future catastrophes such as the textile factory collapse in Sabhar in 2013 with 1,135 deaths.

The symbol shown and the expression "Green Button" have been registered as certification marks. The owner, the BMZ, determines the exact criteria to be met through its trademark statutes, which entitle the holder to use the trademark and thus to affix the symbol on textile products. In addition to compliance with certain product properties, an annual review of compliance by an independent test center accredited in accordance with Regulation 765/2008 / EEC is required. The improper use of the label can be prosecuted under private law.

At the start, the new meta seal was already being used by 27 companies for product labeling, with a total of 70 companies expressing interest. The introductory phase is planned until June 2021.

Presentation of the first brands involved in the Green Button

criticism

The concept of the Green Button has been criticized by both activists and the textile industry. In 2018, the German textile industry wrote in an internal position paper that the Green Button “couldn't keep what it claims to promise”. The changeover to the new seal is associated with “enormous additional costs”, and the establishment of a monitoring system takes years. The test does not include the production of the raw materials, only the further processing. In addition, the obligation to pay minimum wages does not guarantee that these wages will be a living wage.

EU production conditions

The Campaign for Clean Clothes (CCC) criticizes the fact that clothes produced in the EU are not controlled in the same way as those from non-EU countries. Companies that produce in the EU "do not have to provide any evidence for product certification that human and labor rights are being observed, since social standards are already guaranteed due to effectively enforced legal requirements in the EU".

The Christian Initiative Romero said that this was a gateway for free riders and that the credibility of the Green Button could be reduced to absurdity: "CCC publications on Bulgaria or Romania, the two largest textile manufacturers in the EU, regularly show systemic problems in the implementation of Labor rights. When it comes to the gap between actual wages and living wages, the low-wage countries of Europe occupy a sad top position worldwide ” .

The ecclesiastical service in the world of work said about the introduction of the green button: “In particular, the payment of a living wage is not integrated. There is also no coverage of the entire supply chain ” .

According to one critic's conclusion, a textile treated with pesticides and produced under poor working conditions can get the Green Button if it originated in Europe. Environmentally harmful viscose fibers and Teflon- based membranes would also get the Green Button, as long as they are from Europe.

Voluntary product certification and factory audits

The Green Button wants to include companies' human rights due diligence in the assessment. According to the CCC, it is unclear how the criteria and the verification of compliance will be implemented in practice.

The award of the Green Button should be based on the recognition of existing seals and labels. According to the CCC, these are usually awarded by private companies or institutions on the basis of factory audits. Ver.di protested in this regard: “The CCC has documented in numerous publications that social audits are neither able to detect labor law violations such as discrimination against women or the hindrance of trade union work, nor do they lead to actual improvements. A state seal requires a particularly effective, independent control mechanism with sufficient resources and effective sanctions ”.

No involvement of GOTS and FWF

Another criticism is that the Green Button, as a meta seal, has not integrated the labels of the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) and the Fair Wear Foundation (FWF).

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Johanna Metz: “Green Button” starts with a pilot phase. In: Bundestag.de . Retrieved August 18, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Hannes Koch: "Out of the niche". In: taz.de . August 16, 2019 (Interview with Development Minister Gerd Müller (CSU)).;
  3. ↑ The Green Button: Announcement and call for participation for the introduction of the “Green Button” seal. (PDF) Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development , accessed on August 18, 2010 .
  4. ↑ Newstime from September 9, 2019
  5. ↑ Minister, do you wear fairly produced underwear under your white shirt? September 8, 2019, accessed October 6, 2019 .
  6. ↑ a b c d e Interview by Trisha Balster: Debate about Green Button: "A T-shirt doused with pesticides would get the seal" . In: Spiegel Online . September 11, 2019 ( spiegel.de [accessed September 16, 2019]).
  7. ↑ Trademark entry at the DPMA with trademark statutes for download. Retrieved September 10, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Hannes Koch : Müller's Green Socks Campaign. In: taz.de . September 9, 2019, accessed September 9, 2019 .
  9. ↑ Trisha Balster: Green Button - What does the seal mean for sustainable fashion? August 16, 2019 ( welt.de [accessed August 18, 2019]).
  10. ↑ New environmental label “The Green Button”. In: www.br.de. October 24, 2018, accessed August 18, 2019 .
  11. ↑ https://www.zeit.de/die- Answer/2019-09/gruener-knopf-textilien-siegel-fair- mode
  12. ↑ a b c d e f g Campaign for clean clothes: Green button: New meta seal far too weak at crucial points. In: Clean Clothes Campaign | Clean Clothes Campaign Germany. September 5, 2019, accessed on September 16, 2019 (German).