China Rubber Industry Association Released a Series of Standards on Requirements on Materials of Limited Amount for Green Shoe Materials

On June 20, China Rubber Industry Association released a series of group standards of Requirements on Materials of Limited Amount for Materials Used for Green Shoes. This standard will be implemented on October 1, 2017.

The series of standards include Requirements on Materials of Limited Amount for Materials Used for Green Shoes Part I: Shoe Sole (T/CRIA 17001.1-2017), Requirements on Materials of Limited Amount for Materials Used for Green Shoes Part II: Rubber Parts (T/ CRIA 17001.2-2017), Requirements on Materials of Limited Amount for Materials Used for Green Shoes Part III: Adhesive (T/CRIA 17001.3-2017), Requirements on Materials of Limited Amount for Materials Used for Green Shoes Part IV: Shoe Upper (T/CRIA 17001.4-2017), and Requirements on Materials of Limited Amount for Materials Used for Green Shoes Part V: Metal Accessories (T/CRIA 17001.5-2017).

According to Zhu Hong, director of the Technological and Economic Committee of China Rubber Industry Association, some national compulsory standards that are implemented currently, including GB 25038-2010 Technological Specifications on Health and Safety of Wearing Rubber Shoes, GB 25036-2010 Cloth-covered Rubber Shoes for Children, GB 30585-2014 Technological Specifications on Safety of Wearing Children’s Shoes, etc., have all made explicit stipulations on the limited amount of hazardous substance in shoe products. But no corresponding standard on materials used for shoes is there to be carried out. Thus it is imperative to establish a standard on green materials used for shoes within the industry in order to promote the environment-protecting functions of raw and auxiliary materials used for shoes, create a corporate group with both technical abilities and a sense of social responsibilities, and advance the sustainable and healthy development of the industry. Meanwhile, it will, in various links such as obtaining, production, utilization and discarding, reduce the resource and energy consumption of raw materials used for shoes, lower the amount of discharged pollution, diminish the influence on environment, and make the materials harmless to people’s health, easy to be recycled for reusing, and in accord with the aim for product functions and requirements on safety.

According to Liu Lanxiang, secretary-general of the Rubber Shoe Branch of China Rubber Industry Association, through investigation, the Branch found that no systematic management of chemicals existed among either upstream or downstream companies within the industry, and that shoe manufacturers were not sure of whether the products produced with certain raw and auxiliary materials could meet the requirements of relevant national standards. On the other hand, as the cost of testing products batch by batch was too high, once the products that did not conform to requirements flew into the market, companies might face hefty penalty and liability to pay compensation. Meanwhile, these products would have negative influence over both human health and environment. Export-oriented shoe manufacturers had to face a series of requirements on chemical tests presented by clients. The tests were conducted at high costs and repeatedly. Therefore, in order to improve quality while control costs, the Rubber Shoe Branch launched an authentication for suppliers with qualified green raw and auxiliary materials used for shoes, expecting to lead and standardize the rubber shoe industry by managing the supply chain, so as to promote the better development of manufacturers producing quality products. This series of standards would be the technical basis for supporting the authentication for suppliers with qualified green raw and auxiliary materials used for shoes.

Zhu Hong said that this series of standards drew on requirements of such regulations as the REACH of the European Union and CPSIA of the United States while applying the requirements of the national compulsory standard back to the technical requirements on raw materials used for shoes. Compared with the EU’s ecological standard 2009/563/EC for shoes, this series of standards focused mainly on requirements on materials of limited amount. Shoe materials were classified and corresponding requirements on the amount limits were set for different shoe materials. The standards were set to be more detailed and more suitable for the quality control of raw and auxiliary materials used for rubber shoes.