What sustainability actually means in branded merchandise

What sustainability actually means in branded merchandise

Every branded merchandise supplier in the UK now has a sustainability page. Most of them say roughly the same things: organic cotton, recycled materials, eco-friendly packaging, carbon neutral. Some of those claims are accurate. Some are not. Most occupy a grey zone where the language is technically defensible but the underlying evidence is thin.

This post is about how to tell the difference. Not by taking supplier claims at face value, but by asking for the certificate numbers, understanding what each certification actually covers, and knowing which sustainability problems no certificate addresses at all.

Key takeaways

• GOTS, GRS, and OEKO-TEX are the three certifications worth checking for branded merchandise. All three can be verified by certificate number.
• "Organic cotton" without a GOTS number is an unverifiable claim. GOTS certifies the full chain from farm to finished garment.
• GRS certifies recycled content. It does not certify that recycled content is environmentally preferable in every context.
• OEKO-TEX Standard 100 certifies that a fabric contains no harmful substances. It does not certify organic origin or recycled content.
• Packaging waste and shipping carbon are the two sustainability problems that no fabric certification addresses. They require separate approaches.
• End-of-life disposal is largely unaddressed by the merch industry. Be sceptical of claims that go beyond recycled content sourcing.

The certification landscape

Three certifications matter for branded merchandise. They cover different things and should not be treated as substitutes for each other.

GOTS: what it covers and what it does not

GOTS is the Global Organic Textile Standard. It is administered by a German organisation called the Global Standard gGmbH and covers the full supply chain from raw fibre to finished garment.

A GOTS certificate on a cotton garment means: the raw cotton was grown without synthetic pesticides or fertilisers (to criteria equivalent to EU organic standards), the spinning, weaving or knitting, dyeing, and finishing processes meet specific limits on chemical inputs and wastewater treatment, and the social standards throughout the supply chain meet the ILO core labour conventions.

A GOTS certificate number looks like this: CU 123456 GOTS. You can enter it at the GOTS public database at global-standard.org and verify the certificate holder, the certified products, and the certificate validity dates.

What GOTS does not cover: carbon emissions from growing, shipping, or production. It does not cover end-of-life disposal or recyclability of the finished garment. It does not apply to synthetic fibres, including recycled polyester.

The "organic" claim without GOTS

Suppliers who describe cotton as "organic" without a GOTS certificate are making a claim they cannot substantiate for the full chain. The cotton fibre may have been grown to organic farming standards, but without chain of custody certification, there is no verification that it was not mixed with conventional cotton at the ginning or spinning stage.

The claim is common. Some of it reflects genuine but uncertified supply chains where the supplier's direct cotton source is organic but the certifying body has not been engaged. Some of it is looser than that. The only way to know which is to ask for a GOTS certificate number. If none exists, price the claim accordingly.

GRS: recycled content certification

GRS is the Global Recycled Standard, administered by Textile Exchange. It certifies that a product contains a minimum percentage of recycled input material and that the recycled content claim has been verified through the supply chain.

A GRS certificate on a 100 percent recycled polyester fleece means: the polyester was sourced from verified post-consumer or post-industrial waste (commonly plastic bottles or textile offcuts), the chain of custody from reclaimer to finished garment has been audited, and the percentage claim on the product label is accurate.

A GRS certificate number can be verified at the Textile Exchange website. The certificate shows the certificate holder, the certified materials, and the scope of certification.

Recycled polyester: the honest picture

Recycled polyester has a lower production carbon footprint than virgin polyester, typically around 30 to 60 percent lower depending on the source material and production process. It also reduces the demand for virgin petroleum as a feedstock.

What recycled polyester does not do: it does not biodegrade at end of life. A fleece made from recycled plastic bottles remains a synthetic garment that will eventually contribute to textile waste unless specifically directed to a textile recycling stream. It may also shed microplastic fibres during washing, though the evidence on the magnitude of this in garment washing is still developing.

None of that makes recycled polyester a bad choice. For outerwear and performance fabrics, it is often the best available option. The point is that "recycled" does not mean "circular" or "biodegradable." Presenting it as such is a form of greenwashing.

OEKO-TEX Standard 100

OEKO-TEX Standard 100 is a testing and certification standard for textiles. It certifies that the finished fabric has been tested for and found free from a list of specified harmful substances: heavy metals, formaldehyde, pesticide residues, and others.

It does not certify organic origin. It does not certify recycled content. It does not certify any aspect of the supply chain beyond the chemical composition of the finished material.

OEKO-TEX is useful as a baseline safety standard. It is relevant for items in direct skin contact, including tees, underwear, and bedding. An OEKO-TEX certified tee that is not GOTS certified is a tee made from conventionally grown cotton that has been tested for harmful residues. That is a legitimate and useful assurance. It is not the same as organic certification.

OEKO-TEX certificate numbers can be verified at the OEKO-TEX website. Each certificate shows the testing institute, the tested product categories, and the certificate validity.

Greenwashing tactics to recognise

The merch industry deploys a small set of greenwashing tactics repeatedly. They are easy to spot once you know what to look for.

"Eco-friendly" with no specification. This phrase means nothing without a qualifying claim. Eco-friendly compared to what? Measured how? "Eco-friendly tote bags" made from conventional cotton require approximately 7,000 to 20,000 litres of water per kilogram of cotton, depending on growing region and irrigation practice. That is not a small number. A cotton tote is not inherently more environmentally benign than the product it replaces.

"Sustainable materials" with a logo but no certificate number. A GOTS leaf printed on a hang tag is meaningless without the certificate number underneath it. Logos can be reproduced. Certificate numbers can be verified. Ask for the number.

Carbon neutral claims. "Carbon neutral" on a merch product almost always means offset, not reduction. The supplier has purchased carbon credits to offset the estimated emissions from production and shipping. Offset quality varies enormously. Without knowing the offset standard (e.g., Verified Carbon Standard, Gold Standard), the vintage of the credits, and the additionality of the projects, the claim is unverifiable. This does not mean offsets are without value. It means "carbon neutral" is not the same as "low carbon."

"Recycled packaging." Recycled paper packaging is better than virgin. It is not a substitute for reducing total packaging volume. A product shipped in a recycled cardboard box that is three times larger than the product needs to fit is still generating unnecessary waste.

Vague local sourcing claims. "UK-made" or "locally sourced" is a meaningful claim if it means the garment is cut, sewn, and finished in the UK. It is a less meaningful claim if it means the fabric is imported and only the final print step happens in the UK. Ask exactly where each production step occurs.

Packaging waste: the problem certifications do not solve

GOTS, GRS, and OEKO-TEX all operate at the product level. None of them address packaging.

A typical merch order from a mid-range supplier arrives in individual polybags inside a cardboard outer, with void fill, a printed packing slip, and a branded insert. The polybag is single-use plastic. The void fill is often expanded polystyrene. The insert is printed on unrecycled stock.

The alternatives exist and are not expensive:

• Individual kraft paper wrap in place of polybag, at roughly 8 to 15 pence per unit premium.
• Recycled or FSC certified cardboard for the outer box, typically at parity cost with standard cardboard.
• Recycled paper void fill or honeycomb wrap in place of expanded polystyrene.
• One-piece printed packaging that doubles as the product sleeve and the shipping outer, eliminating the separate box for small orders.

The packaging decision is made at the supplier level, but it is negotiable. Asking for unbagged, kraft-wrapped products is a reasonable request. Most suppliers who stock the materials will accommodate it on request; it does not require a bespoke operation.

Shipping carbon: the other uncertified problem

A branded merchandise order printed in the UK and delivered to a UK address has a much lower shipping carbon footprint than the same order produced overseas and shipped by air freight.

UK domestic parcel delivery at 1 to 2kg via a courier running electric or hybrid vehicles on last-mile routes generates approximately 0.3 to 0.6 kg CO2e per parcel. Air freight from East Asia on a comparable weight generates 5 to 15 kg CO2e per parcel, depending on routing. The difference is one to two orders of magnitude, not marginal.

For a merch programme running 300 kits per year at 1.5 kg each, the difference between UK printing plus UK delivery and overseas printing plus air freight is roughly 1,400 to 4,200 kg CO2e per year. Against a company's Scope 3 reporting baseline, that is a meaningful variance for a relatively modest purchasing decision.

UK printing does not guarantee lower carbon in every case. A UK supplier using diesel-intensive logistics and long road hauls from a single fulfilment centre may have a higher delivery footprint than a nearshore European supplier using electric last-mile delivery. But UK printing is, on average, the lower carbon option for UK delivery, and it carries the additional benefits of shorter lead times and local accountability.

End-of-life disposal

This is the part of the sustainability picture that the merch industry handles worst.

A cotton tee that reaches the end of its useful life can, in principle, be composted (if untreated, undyed, and 100 percent cotton). In practice, most branded tees contain a percentage of polyester or elastane, and the dyes and print inks contain chemicals that complicate composting. Recycling mixed-fibre textiles at scale is technically possible but commercially marginal in the UK in 2026.

The honest position is: branded merchandise is a long-life product, not a circular one. The best end-of-life outcome for a heavyweight cotton tee is a 5 to 7 year useful life, which amortises the production impact over many wears, followed by donation or repurposing rather than incineration or landfill.

Claims of "fully recyclable" or "compostable" branded merchandise exist in the market. Treat them with caution. Ask what specific recycling stream the product is certified for, who runs that stream, and whether it operates at scale in the UK.

How to verify sustainability claims: a checklist

Before accepting a sustainability claim from a merch supplier:

1. Ask for the GOTS certificate number for any cotton product described as organic. Verify it at global-standard.org.
2. Ask for the GRS certificate number for any product described as containing recycled content. Verify it at the Textile Exchange database.
3. Ask for the OEKO-TEX certificate number for any product described as OEKO-TEX certified. Verify it at oeko-tex.com/en/certificate.
4. For carbon neutral claims, ask for the offset standard, the credit vintage, and the project type. Do not accept "we purchase offsets" as sufficient.
5. For packaging: ask whether individual items are polybag-free. Request kraft wrap or unbagged delivery.
6. For shipping: confirm whether the supplier prints in the UK and fulfils from a UK warehouse.
7. For end-of-life: ask specifically what the recommended disposal route is, and whether there is a take-back or recycling programme.

If a supplier cannot answer questions 1, 2, and 3 with certificate numbers, the sustainability claims are not verified.

FAQ

What is the difference between GOTS and OEKO-TEX?

GOTS certifies the full supply chain from organic fibre growing to finished garment, covering both environmental and social criteria. OEKO-TEX Standard 100 certifies that a finished textile product is free from specified harmful substances. They address different questions. A product can hold OEKO-TEX certification without being organic, and vice versa.

How do I verify a GOTS certificate?

Enter the certificate number at global-standard.org in the public database. The database shows the certificate holder, the products covered, and the certificate validity dates. If a supplier gives you a logo but no certificate number, the claim is unverified.

Is recycled polyester sustainable?

Recycled polyester has a lower production carbon footprint than virgin polyester, typically 30 to 60 percent lower. It does not biodegrade at end of life and may shed microplastics during washing. It is a better choice than virgin polyester for synthetic garments, but it is not a circular material.

What does "carbon neutral" mean on a merch product?

In most cases it means the supplier has purchased carbon offsets to match the estimated emissions from production and shipping. The quality of those offsets varies. Without knowing the offset standard and project type, the claim is not independently verifiable.

Does packaging certification exist for branded merchandise?

FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification covers paper and cardboard packaging made from responsibly managed forests. Recycled content in packaging can be certified under similar chain-of-custody standards. Neither covers plastic packaging. The most reliable approach is to request plastic-free or unbagged delivery and confirm the paper packaging stock.