The Mumbai based Century Rayon has become the first textile company in India to be awarded with the STeP by OEKO-TEX Certificate for Sustainable Textile Production. Mr. Jacob Kutty, Managing Director, Hohenstein India Pvt. Ltd, presented the STeP certificate to Mr. O. R. Chitlange, CEO of Century Rayon and his team on behalf of the OEKO-TEX Association.
During the event, Mr. Jacob said, “With this certification, Century Rayon once again demonstrates its full commitment to the issues of environmental protection, sustainability and social responsibility. Furthermore, the company is also now in the position to communicate its achievements in these areas to the public in a credible and transparent manner”.
Quality and sustainability
Mr. Chitlange is also certain that the STeP certification represents a major value add to both the company and its customers. He said, “Nowadays, sustainability is the key to safeguarding a company’s position as a responsible operator on a global scale. For over two decades now, Century Rayon has remained committed to achieving proven quality and sustainability based on international standards.” Thus, the company has been certified in compliance with the Quality Management System ISO 9001-9008 since 1995 and the ISO 14001 Environmental Management System which was implemented in its operations since 2007. Also OHSAS 18001 was introduced in the company in 2007 as the basis for an efficient occupational health and safety management system. These existing certificates were recognised in the process of Century Rayon’s STeP certification and were incorporated into the assessment of the individual modules.
For the certification, the areas relevant to sustainable production and social conditions were first analysed using a web-based assessment tool. This included the handling of chemicals and possible hazardous materials, environmental performance measured using a wide range of criteria, the implementation of an environmental management system, company responsibility in relation to employees, efficient quality management and safety in the workplace. During the subsequent audit of the production facilities, the specifications provided by the company were verified on site by the OEKO-TEX auditors and a detailed audit report was created. The result of the sustainability assessment was displayed in a clear scoring system on the certificate.
In June 2013, Century Rayon was selected as the OEKO-TEX ‘Company of the Month’ for its outstanding commitment to maximum product safety and sustainable production conditions. The company was also awarded with the Special Award for Sustainable Efforts 2013 as part of the OEKO-TEX Sustainability Awards.