TÜV Rheinland Signs A Strategic Partnership With Digital Chemical Management Platform The BHive®

Seamless approach to chemical testing and chemical management for the textile and fashion industry

Littleton, MA /PRNewswire/ - TÜV Rheinland, a global leader in independent technical services, has announced its partnership with digital chemical management platform, The BHive. This strategic partnership between the two entities will provide a seamless approach to chemical testing and management to the textile and fashion industry. To achieve this goal, the partners will offer a holistic service portfolio to new and existing customers from both TÜV Rheinland and The BHive, covering the entire chemical management process from input and process to output.

Increasing pressure on textile manufacturers
Consumers of today are becoming more conscious of the environmental impact associated with the manufacturing process of consumer products. With the demand for safer, cleaner, and more sustainable chemical management in the fashion and textile industry, manufacturers are under rising pressure from brands and retailers to not only increase chemical transparency, but also demonstrate good control of chemicals used throughout the production process.

This new strategic partnership combines TÜV Rheinland's global testing, auditing, and training expertise with the innovative chemicals management platform The BHive® – a ZDHC approved solution provider for the Performance InCheck Report. TÜV Rheinland is an accepted service provider for ZDHC MRSL Level 1-3 certification and is ZDHC-approved for wastewater testing in one of their many global facilities. In addition, they are also an approved verifier for the Sustainable Apparel Coalition's Higg Facility Environmental Module (FEM), and an approved trainer as part of the ZDHC Academy.

Through the partnership with The BHive®, TÜV Rheinland can provide manufacturers of fashion and textile products a seamless approach to the entire chemicals management process, offering solutions and all necessary compliance services from a single source. Manufacturers can leverage this partnership to not only ensure chemical compliance, but also communicate their use of sustainable chemistry to the textile and fashion industry. In turn, this can enhance brand image while demonstrating their contribution to a more sustainable circular textile economy.

Promoting supply chain transparency in the industry
Lars Doemer, Managing Director of GoBlu International Ltd., the company behind The BHive, commented: "We believe that this strategic partnership with TÜV Rheinland is a critical step towards our shared goal of accelerating the phase out of hazardous chemical products from textile production. Moreover, we aim to promote overall supply chain transparency in the industry. As one of the world's leading testing service providers, we see TÜV Rheinland as a strong partner on this journey towards the improvement of chemicals management."

Mohammed Dkhissi, Global Field Manager Softlines from TÜV Rheinland stated: "The BHive offers a smart and innovative solution to the otherwise complex process of chemicals management. By partnering with The BHive, we are expanding our sustainability service portfolio. We are proud to now announce our joint goal of offering a seamless approach to sustainable chemicals management, which will help promote the use of safer chemical alternatives in textile production and provide increased visibility of the chemical supply chain to our clients in the fashion industry."

Find out more about the partnership here.

About TÜV Rheinland
TÜV Rheinland stands for safety and quality in virtually all areas of business and life. Founded 150 years ago, the company is one of the world's leading testing service providers with more than 20,000 employees and annual revenues of around 2 billion euros. TÜV Rheinland's highly qualified experts test technical systems and products around the world, support innovations in technology and business, train people in numerous professions and certify management systems according to international standards. In doing so, the independent experts generate trust in products as well as processes across global value-adding chains and the flow of commodities. Since 2006, TÜV Rheinland has been a member of the United Nations Global Compact to promote sustainability and combat corruption.

About The BHive
The BHive is a smart, digital chemicals management platform developed by sustainability accelerator GoBlu International Ltd. for the textile and fashion industry. The BHive mobile app allows manufacturing facilities to take smartphone photos of chemical product labels, and within seconds identify which products meet the sustainability requirements of many brands and retailers. Once uploaded to the desktop platform, the system automatically generates a full and accurate chemical inventory. Moreover, the user is enabled to create the ZDHC Performance InCheck Report through the platform.

Facilities can then see which chemicals they should phase out – all at a glance. They can also share this information with their brand and retailer clients, who as a result have a full overview of chemicals used across their global supply chain. This way, The BHive enables radical transparency and promotes the use of more sustainable chemical products.