Camenzind + Co. AG: 30 years of sustainable textile production with OEKO-TEX®

What is your philosophy and strategy for sustainable production?

«Sustainable» is a term that describes responsibility towards people and the environment. Our great-grandfather took on this responsibility long before the term acquired such great significance in society. Today, 130 years after the founding of the Camenzind silk mill, we continue to live up to this responsibility with today's knowledge.

What are your reasons for becoming OEKO-TEX® STeP certified?

The topic of sustainable certificates has been on our minds for a long time. We intensively studied the three most important sustainability certificates and ultimately decided on STeP. The reason for this was our positive experience with OEKO-TEX® in connection with our OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100 certificate and the opportunity to further develop our products with the "MADE IN GREEN" label.

How does the OEKO-TEX® certification scheme help you in communicating your success in sustainable production?

Communicating our sustainable production to the outside world is very important and we already did this before our STeP certification. With STeP, however, we give our efforts even more emphasis and credibility.

What innovative technologies are installed in your facility to enhance production efficiency, save resources, reduce consumption, encourage circularity and reduce costs?

Innovation and efficiency have always been the lifeblood of our company. As early as 1898, our ancestors began building their own hydroelectric power station to electrify our production. In 2010, the hydroelectric power station was completely renovated and in 2021 it covered 168% of our electrical energy needs for production. When acquiring new production facilities, we attach great importance to energy efficiency and at the same time an increase in quality. We have upgraded older machines that cannot be renewed because there are no longer any manufacturers (such as the Hamel twisting system) with new, frequency-controlled drives and controls. We will have completed the transition to 100% LED lighting by 2025. In addition, we replaced 60% of all windows with triple glazing by 2022.

Please could you cite some examples on the best practice being adopted in your facility for better chemical management?

All employees have been trained and made aware of how to handle chemicals. The storage facilities for chemicals were analysed and upgraded according to chemical management (collecting trays, labelling, new containers). In addition, we replaced three chemicals that were not compliant with STeP guidelines with more environmentally friendly alternatives.

What were the major challenges in getting your facility STeP certified, and how did you overcome these?

As in many small companies, certain production and work processes are defined, but not recorded in writing. Implementing these processes required a significant amount of time and patience. Creating awareness about the new STeP measures amongst long-serving employees also took some time. However, since the lines of communication are very short for us and the management maintains a family management style, all measures could be implemented quickly and effectively.

What are the next steps for your sustainable production journey in terms of the 6 STeP modules?

We would like to have implemented the recommendations in the STeP report by the next audit in 2025 at the latest and thus further improve our Level 3 score.

What was your experience in working with TESTEX in this STeP certification?

For our small company, the certification was a big challenge. The support from TESTEX in the context of this OEKO-TEX® STeP certification was very good. We were able to ask questions at any time by phone or email, which were answered very quickly. This allowed us to go through the certification process very efficiently.

Do you plan on introducing the OEKO-TEX® MADE IN GREEN label?

Yes, we would like to label our products OEKO-TEX® MADE IN GREEN. We are currently working closely with our suppliers to ensure and demonstrate maximum transparency in the supply chain of our products.