Sustainability

People. Planet. Protection.

Download our 2023 GSR report

A unique outside-in perspective informs everything we do at TenCate Protective Fabrics. For us, it’s not just about developing the best products. It’s about looking several steps further, first to our customers and the end users who rely on our products to excel at what they do, then to the broader environment we all have in common: Earth. Because protective fabrics should protect the planet, too. And of course we can’t forget our most important asset: our employees. Without them we wouldn’t be where we are today, which is why they also play an integral part in defining our strategy.

"Beyond protecting the people who trust our fabrics every day, the scope of our responsibility transcends the final use of our products"

Maria Gallahue-Worl
Chief Executive Officer at TenCate Protective Fabrics

Navigate to

01Ecogreen: sustainable fabrics for every industry

02Big picture responsibility

03360° sustainability

04Made with the future in mind

05Download our 2023 GSR report

06The Ecogreen portfolio; sustainable fabrics for any industry

Ecogreen: sustainable fabrics for every industry

To meet the ever-growing demand for eco-friendly protective workwear, TenCate Protective Fabrics has developed three ground-breaking products over the past 10 years: Tecawork^® Ecogreen, Tecasafe^® Ecogreen, and most recently, the world’s first sustainable FR-treated fabric: Tecapro^® Ecogreen.

The highest-quality, most comfortable protective workwear with the smallest environmental footprint possible — that’s the ambitious goal we’ve set for ourselves with our Ecogreen portfolio.

These products have allowed us to save many liters of water throughout the years. For example, for every meter of Tecasafe^® Ecogreen XL9300 sold, we save 40.000 liters of water in the supply chain. We’ve sold over 4 million meters of this fabric to date.

Big picture responsibility

In the ever-evolving world of work, innovation is our focus. And as the market leader for sustainable protective fabric solutions, we feel responsible to help our entire industry reduce its ecological impact. We didn’t develop Ecogreen products to “tick the sustainable box” for ourselves, but to enable all our value chain partners to produce environmentally-friendly workwear and PPE that truly adds value. We’ll continue to proactively lead our industry ahead, because the biggest change happens when we band together.

“To tackle the full ‘cycle of care’ within sustainability together with you, we work closely with every link in our value chain. From using sustainable raw materials, to reducing the ecological footprint of the supply chain, to maximizing durability (garment lifetime) and being able to recycle garments back to usable fibres again.“

Marcel Willems
Vice President of Global Industrial Safety at Tencate Protective Fabrics

360° sustainability

Sustainability deserves our full attention, so we tackle it from all angles. From building it into the core of our product development process, to carefully upgrading our materials (Ecogreen products feature recycled polyester and/or sustainably-sourced TENCEL™ Lyocell fibres).

From optimising our technology to use less water and energy, to validating our positive impact (see our registered EPD^®’s) and external certification for sustainable textile production (we’re STeP by OEKO-TEX^® certified, level 3). Transparency is key, and so is ownership: each TenCate Protective Fabrics employee carries a piece of our shared responsibility to make the world a safer, better, greener place.

Made with the future in mind

Our driving purpose “Made for Life” refers to our commitment to empower end users to feel safe, comfortable and confident in what they do, not just in this moment, but far into the future. By providing end users with the most comfortable, most sustainable protective workwear possible, Ecogreen fabrics play an important role in improving their overall wellbeing — on and off the job. A healthier planet ensures a higher quality of life for all of us. That’s why we’ll never stop using our long-standing experience and expertise to propel innovation forwards, leading the way with sustainable solutions for our value chain and for the planet.

Download our 2023 GSR report

The world around us is developing at a rapid pace, and these changes have an immense impact on how we operate our business. That’s why we continuously assess external factors in the world around us – to create an ambitious, transparent and sustainable strategy that not only contributes to our own future growth, but also one in which our customers and partners are instrumental in creating better solutions.

2023 GSR report

Download our 2023 GSR report

The Ecogreen portfolio;
sustainable fabrics for any industry

No matter in what industry you work, we offer the sustainable fabric that suits your needs. To meet the ever-growing demand for eco-friendly protective workwear, we have developed three ground-breaking products over the past 10 years: Tecawork^® Ecogreen, Tecasafe^® Ecogreen, and most recently, the world’s first sustainable FR-treated fabric: Tecapro^® Ecogreen.

All our sustainable fabrics come with an EPD^®, an Environmental Product Declaration. An EPD^® is used to capture the calculations made in the LCA. An EPD^® is an objective and fact-based (international) reporting tool that provides complete and transparent LCA information to guide end users, procurement professionals and product designers in their selection process. Besides proving that we’ve truly lowered our impact and allowing us to make external claims, it also offers customers a simpler way to compare products.

Tecapro^® Ecogreen
Best of both worlds. One fabric.

A flame resistant fabric (patent pending) that offers you more comfort, same protection and a smaller ecological footprint. We’re proud to have innovated the world’s first sustainable FR-treated solution containing 50% green fibres. Eco-friendly TENCEL™ Lyocell produced from responsibly-sourced wood and 100% recycled REPREVE^® polyester make for a breathable, durable fabric that’s soft on the skin and stands up to frequent industrial washing.

Visit here the Tecapro^® Ecogreen fabrics portfolio

View EPD^® of Tecapro^® Ecogreen

Tecasafe^® Ecogreen
Proven comfort in any condition

The patented inherent flame resistant fabrics of Tecasafe^® Ecogreen were the first ever inherent FR multi-norm fabric to incorporate sustainable TENCEL™ Lyocell fibres. It provides improved comfort and extreme durability, while boasting a lower ecological footprint than cotton.

Visit here the Tecasafe^® Ecogreen fabrics portfolio

View EPD^® of Tecasafe^® Ecogreen

Tecawork^® Ecogreen
Think forward. Feel better.

Tecawork^® Ecogreen offers you the most comfortable and sustainable workwear fabrics made of 100% green fibres. This workwear fabric range that is not only more sustainable, but also takes wearer comfort to a higher level – a unique combination. The fabrics are made with TENCEL™ lyocell 100% bio-cellulosic fibres from sustainable sourced wood and 100% mechanically recycled polyester from PET bottles.

Visit here the Tecawork^® Ecogreen fabrics portfolio

View EPD^® of Tecawork^® Ecogreen

Master your role, build your knowledge and transform your sustainable workwear

Ready to boost your knowledge on sustainable protective clothing? Discover the latest insights from in-house experts in our blogs, trend reports, case studies and whitepapers.