Glossary

An apparel-industry group that publishes a shared chemical safety list.

Apparel and Footwear International RSL Management Group — an industry consortium that maintains the AFIRM RSL, harmonising restricted substance limits for finished apparel and footwear globally. The 2026 edition forms one of the primary reference frameworks for the Tex2Tex® Chemical Compliance Guideline V3.0.

A yarn given a fluffy, cotton-like texture using compressed air.

Air Textured Yarn — yarn texturised by an air jet that forms loops in the filaments, producing a bulky, spun-like hand suitable for sportswear, upholstery, and technical textiles.

Earth Protex's positioning that distinguishes Tex2Tex® from rPET made from plastic bottles.

A commercial trademark used by Earth Protex to communicate that Tex2Tex® recycled polyester is produced exclusively from textile waste feedstock, closing the loop within the textile industry rather than converting post-consumer PET bottles into textile products. Requires correct trademark usage in brand-facing communications per Earth Protex guidance. See also: Tex2Tex®, RPET, rPET Carrier Resin.

A chemical sometimes found at trace levels in recycled plastics. Presence at low levels does not automatically indicate a safety concern — compliance is assessed based on actual exposure, not concentration alone.

Bisphenol A — an industrial chemical historically used in polycarbonates and epoxy resins, regulated under REACH SVHC Candidate List, California Proposition 65 (MADL 3 µg/day dermal), and Oeko-Tex® Standard 100. Can appear at trace levels in recycled polyester from legacy feedstock contamination. Tex2Tex® applies an internal control limit of 10 ppm with a reporting threshold of 0.1 ppm for individual samples, interpreted using a Proposition 65 exposure-based screening model comparing estimated daily exposure against the OEHHA MADL. See also: Proposition 65, REACH, SVHC, RSL.

An environmental assessment that covers production only, not the full product life.

A system boundary definition in Life Cycle Assessment covering environmental impacts from raw material collection through to the factory gate, excluding downstream use phase, distribution, and end-of-life. Both Tex2Tex® LCAs — the Intertek-audited staple fibre LCA and the self-published pellets LCA — are assessed on a cradle-to-gate basis. See also: LCA, GWP100, NRE.

A textured yarn that gives fabric a soft, fuller feel.

Draw Textured Yarn — POY that has been simultaneously drawn and false-twist textured to add bulk, stretch, and a soft hand, widely used in apparel and home textiles. Tex2Tex® filaments are available as DTY in 50D–600D with NIM/SIM/HIM options, in Off-White and Dope Dyed Black. See also: POY, FDY, rPET Carrier Resin.

A smooth, fully stretched yarn with a silky look.

Fully Drawn Yarn — a continuous filament polyester yarn drawn during spinning to its final orientation, used directly in weaving and knitting for smooth, lustrous fabrics. Available in development through Tex2Tex® filament programme. See also: POY, DTY.

A certification proving recycled content and responsible production, independently audited.

Global Recycled Standard 4.0 — a Textile Exchange chain-of-custody standard verifying recycled content (≥20%), responsible social, environmental, and chemical practices through third-party audit and Transaction Certificates. Earth Protex holds GRS 4.0 certification issued and audited by Intertek (facility TE-00299098), covering dyed yarns, undyed fabrics, dyed fibres, greige yarns, processed pre-consumer materials, dyed fabrics, greige fabrics, undyed fibres, chips (pellets), and popcorns. See also: Transaction Certificate, RCS, Tex2Tex®.

A standard measure of how much a process contributes to global warming over 100 years.

Global Warming Potential over a 100-year time horizon — the primary climate impact indicator used in Life Cycle Assessment, expressed in kg CO₂ equivalent per kg of output, based on IPCC AR6 WGI characterisation factors. Used as the primary carbon metric in both Tex2Tex® LCA reports. See also: LCA, NRE, Cradle-to-Gate.

A measurement of how strong a polyester polymer is.

Intrinsic Viscosity — a measure of average molecular weight of PET (typically expressed in dl/g), indicating polymer chain length and used to specify suitability for fibre, film, or bottle-grade applications.

A study measuring a product's environmental impact across its life.

Life Cycle Assessment — an ISO 14040/14044 methodology quantifying environmental impacts of a product across defined system boundaries, including carbon (GWP100), non-renewable energy (NRE), and water consumption. Tex2Tex® holds two LCAs: a third-party audited LCA for recycled polyester staple fibre conducted by Intertek (Report #TSNT01556537, March 2023, aligned with ISO 14040/44, ISO 14067, and PAS 2050) and a self-published ISO 14040/44-aligned LCA for recycled polyester pellets (Earth Protex, September 2025, Brightway2/ecoinvent v3.9.1). Both are cradle-to-gate assessments. Third-party validation of the pellets LCA is available upon request. See also: GWP100, NRE, Cradle-to-Gate, TMR™.

A plant-based material made of very tiny cellulose fibres.

Microfibrillated Cellulose — a bio-based material produced by mechanical defibrillation of plant cellulose into a network of fine fibrils in the micrometre to nanometre range, with high surface area and mechanical strength. Note: This entry does not appear in current Tex2Tex® product documentation. Recommend review as to whether it belongs in this glossary or a broader Earth Protex materials reference.

A list of chemicals that must not be used during manufacturing.

Manufacturing Restricted Substances List — restricts intentional use of hazardous chemicals in production processes, most notably the ZDHC MRSL covering inputs to wet processing. Tex2Tex® aligns with ZDHC MRSL v3.1 as part of its Chemical Compliance Guideline V3.0 framework. See also: RSL, ZDHC, AFIRM.

An even finer, nano-sized version of cellulose fibres from plants.

Nano-fibrillated Cellulose — refined cellulose with fibrils typically 1–100 nm in diameter, produced from wood pulp or agricultural residues via mechanical, chemical, or enzymatic processing. Note: This entry does not appear in current Tex2Tex® product documentation. Recommend review as to whether it belongs in this glossary or a broader Earth Protex materials reference.

The amount of fossil fuel energy used to produce something.

Non-Renewable Energy — the cumulative non-renewable energy demand expressed in MJ per kg of output, associated with a product's production process. Used as a key performance indicator alongside GWP100 and water consumption in the Tex2Tex® pellets LCA (self-published, September 2025). Benchmarking against published industry reference values shows substantially lower NRE for Tex2Tex® pellets compared to virgin PET and conventional rPET production routes. See also: LCA, GWP100, Cradle-to-Gate, TMR™.

A global certification that tests textiles for harmful substances.

An independent testing and certification system for textile and leather products. Standard 100 certifies that articles meet defined limits for substances harmful to human health. Tex2Tex® meets or exceeds Oeko-Tex® RSL compliance through Intertek testing across key substance families including PFAS, BPA, heavy metals, and disperse dyes. Formal Oeko-Tex® Standard 100 product certification is available upon customer request for larger programmes. See also: RSL, AFIRM, REACH, ZDHC.

A common plastic used to make polyester fibre and bottles.

Polyethylene Terephthalate — a thermoplastic polyester polymer made from ethylene glycol and terephthalic acid, widely used in textiles, packaging, and consumer goods. The primary polymer processed within the Tex2Tex® TMR™ recycling system. See also: RPET, Polyester, TMR™.

A family of man-made 'forever chemicals' used for water and stain resistance, monitored and controlled in all Tex2Tex® products.

Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances — a large class of synthetic fluorinated chemicals that are highly persistent in the environment and increasingly restricted under REACH, the French 2026 PFAS Decree, and US state laws. Tex2Tex® applies a No Intentional Use policy for long-chain PFAS (C6+), validated through a dual testing approach: targeted PFAS analysis via EN 17681-1:2025 (alkaline hydrolysis) and Total Fluorine screening via EN 14582:2016 or ASTM D7359 (internal limit: 100 mg/kg). The dual approach captures both known targeted PFAS and unknown fluorinated compounds that targeted methods alone may miss. See also: RSL, REACH, MRSL, AFIRM.

A synthetic fabric fibre made from PET plastic.

A category of synthetic fibres made from polyester polymers, predominantly PET. Known for durability, wrinkle resistance, and shape retention. The terms polyester and PET are often used interchangeably in industry. Tex2Tex® processes 100% polyester textile waste — with tolerance for up to 5% elastane contamination — through the TMR™ thermo-mechanical system. See also: PET, RPET, TMR™.

Scrap material from industrial processes, reused as recycled feedstock.

Post-industrial waste — by-products and scrap generated by industrial manufacturing operations, commonly used interchangeably with pre-consumer. Recovered and reintroduced as recycled raw material. Recognised as recycled feedstock under GRS 4.0. All Tex2Tex® feedstock to date has been pre-commercial/post-industrial in origin. See also: Pre-consumer, Pre-commercial, GRS.

A partly stretched yarn used as a starting material for other yarns.

Partially Oriented Yarn — a continuous filament polyester yarn produced at high spinning speeds, only partially drawn, used as feedstock for downstream texturising into DTY. Available in development through the Tex2Tex® filament programme. See also: DTY, FDY, rPET Carrier Resin.

Waste generated before a product is sold — typically factory floor offcuts and yarn waste.

Pre-commercial waste — a subset of pre-consumer waste referring specifically to material generated within the manufacturing process prior to any commercial transaction, including cutting room offcuts, yarn waste, and off-specification production. Used interchangeably with post-industrial in the Tex2Tex® feedstock framework. All Tex2Tex® feedstock to date has been pre-commercial/post-industrial in origin. See also: Pre-consumer, Post-industrial, GRS.

Waste from factories before a product ever reaches a customer.

Pre-consumer (post-industrial) waste — material diverted from the manufacturing waste stream before reaching end consumers, including cutting waste, yarn waste, and off-spec production. Recognised as recycled feedstock under GRS 4.0. The primary feedstock category for Tex2Tex® recycled polyester production. See also: Post-industrial, Pre-commercial, GRS.

A California law requiring product warnings for chemicals known to cause harm above defined daily exposure levels.

California's Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 — requires warnings for products sold in California that expose users above defined safe-harbour levels for listed carcinogens or reproductive toxicants. For BPA, OEHHA has established a Maximum Allowable Dose Level (MADL) of 3 µg/day for dermal exposure from solid materials. Tex2Tex® applies a Prop 65-aligned BPA Exposure Screening Model that interprets analytical ppm results against this MADL threshold using a two-level exposure calculation framework. See also: BPA, REACH, RSL, SVHC.

A simpler certification that verifies recycled content only.

Recycled Claim Standard — a Textile Exchange chain-of-custody standard tracking recycled input material from source to final product, without the social and environmental criteria required by GRS. See also: GRS, Transaction Certificate.

The EU law that controls chemicals in products sold in Europe, including requirements to declare certain substances of very high concern.

Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals — EU Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 governing the manufacture, import, and use of chemical substances and articles placed on the EU market. Includes the SVHC Candidate List, which triggers communication and supply chain disclosure obligations above 0.1% w/w in articles. Tex2Tex® monitors SVHC-relevant substances through a dedicated appendix within the Chemical Compliance Guideline V3.0, and aligns with REACH restrictions including those applicable to PFAS, BPA, heavy metals, and phthalates. See also: SVHC, RSL, PFAS, BPA.

Recycled polyester — polyester made from waste instead of new oil. Tex2Tex® RPET is made exclusively from textile waste, not plastic bottles.

Recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate — PET produced from reclaimed feedstock rather than virgin petrochemicals. Industry RPET is predominantly produced from post-consumer PET bottles. Tex2Tex® RPET is produced exclusively from pre-consumer and post-industrial polyester textile waste, with no bottle-derived or virgin PET input in standard grades. In standard grades, Tex2Tex® RPET is 100% textile-waste-derived. In standard Tex2Tex® grades, no bottle-derived rPET is present. rPET carrier resin appears only in dope-dyed colour grades as a masterbatch carrier medium. See also: PET, Polyester, rPET Carrier Resin, TMR™, Beyond Bottles™.

A small amount of bottle-based recycled polyester used only as a vehicle to carry colour pigment in dope-dyed Tex2Tex® products. It is not part of the base fibre or pellet.

Recycled PET carrier resin — a bottle-derived rPET resin used as the polymer matrix in dope-dye colour masterbatch, serving as a carrier medium for pigment dispersion during dope-dyeing of Tex2Tex® fibre and filament. Present only in dope-dyed black and fashion colour grades, at a small percentage of total product weight. The base Tex2Tex® fibre and pellet in all standard grades contains no bottle-derived or virgin PET. The presence of rPET carrier resin in dope-dyed products is declared and documented. Raw White, Off-White, and Ecru grades contain no carrier resin and are 100% Tex2Tex® textile-waste-derived RPET. See also: RPET, Tex2Tex®, DTY, POY.

A list of chemicals that must not be present in a finished product above defined safe limits.

Restricted Substances List — concentration limits applied to substances in finished products, aligned with frameworks including REACH, AFIRM RSL 2026, Oeko-Tex® Standard 100, and ZDHC MRSL. The Tex2Tex® RSL is documented in the Chemical Compliance Guideline V3.0 (March 2026), covering 268+ substance entries specific to polyester fibre and textile-to-textile recycling, reviewed and updated bi-annually. Where multiple standards define limits for the same substance, Tex2Tex® adopts the most restrictive applicable threshold. See also: MRSL, AFIRM, REACH, OEKO-TEX®, ZDHC, SVHC.

Chemicals of very high concern that must be declared if present above a set level in products sold in the EU.

Substances of Very High Concern — substances meeting criteria under REACH Article 57, including carcinogens, mutagens, reproductive toxicants (CMRs), PBT/vPvB substances, and endocrine disruptors. Inclusion on the SVHC Candidate List triggers communication obligations above 0.1% w/w in articles and supplier disclosure requirements. Tex2Tex® monitors SVHC-relevant substances through a dedicated appendix in the Chemical Compliance Guideline V3.0, with enhanced monitoring frequency between formal RSL revisions. See also: REACH, RSL, BPA, PFAS.

Earth Protex's trademarked technology and product platform for recycled polyester made entirely from textile waste.

A registered trademark of Earth Protex covering a scaled textile-to-textile recycling technology and product platform. The trademark encompasses recycled polyester fibre, pellets, yarns, fabrics, and finished products, all produced from 100% polyester textile waste feedstock using the TMR™ thermo-mechanical process. Supported by GRS 4.0 certification audited by Intertek, an Intertek-audited staple fibre LCA, and a self-published pellets LCA, all underpinned by the Tex2Tex® Chemical Compliance Guideline RSL framework. Standard grades contain no bottle-derived or virgin PET. Dope-dyed colour grades contain a small percentage of rPET carrier resin as a masterbatch carrier only. See also: TMR™, RPET, rPET Carrier Resin, Beyond Bottles™, GRS, LCA.

Earth Protex's low-impact recycling process for polyester textile waste.

Thermo-Mechanical Reactor™ — Earth Protex's proprietary thermo-mechanical polyester recycling process that converts 100% polyester textile waste into Tex2Tex® recycled polyester fibre and pellets through sorting, shredding, melt extrusion, filtration, and re-extrusion. LCA benchmarking against published industry reference values shows substantially lower carbon emissions and non-renewable energy use compared to virgin PET and conventional rPET production routes. The process uses only spinning oil and antistatic agents (<0.2% input), both recycled by partner facilities. See also: Tex2Tex®, LCA, GWP100, NRE, RPET.

A document that proves a certified product was bought and sold within a verified supply chain.

A document issued within a GRS or RCS chain-of-custody system to verify that a specific quantity of certified material has been traded between certified facilities. Required at each supply chain transaction to maintain certified recycled content status through to the finished product. Tex2Tex® customers can request Transaction Certificates for their own supply chain compliance documentation. See also: GRS, RCS.

An industry programme to remove hazardous chemicals from textile manufacturing.

Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals — a multi-stakeholder initiative providing the ZDHC MRSL, Wastewater Guidelines, and conformance tools for the textile, apparel, and leather supply chain. Tex2Tex® aligns with ZDHC MRSL v3.1 as part of its Chemical Compliance Guideline V3.0 framework. See also: MRSL, RSL, AFIRM, OEKO-TEX®.