ZDHC Foundation releases 2025 impact report with new sustainability milestones
The ZDHC Foundation has released its 2025 Impact Report, highlighting progress in sustainable chemical management across the textile, apparel, leather and footwear industries.
The data-rich report is structured around a natural capital lens and four pillars of impact, demonstrating how the Roadmap to Zero Program is advancing from participation to implementation, measurable performance and broader environmental and social outcomes.
“Sustainability has to become part of how our industry builds resilience, manages risk, and protects long-term value. For ZDHC, this reinforces the purpose of the Roadmap to Zero Programme: to align our industry around better chemistry, stronger implementation, credible data, and collective impact,” said Frank Michel, Chief Executive Officer of the ZDHC Foundation.
According to the report, the ZDHC community expanded to 397 organizations in 2025. Registered chemical formulators grew by 18.9%, while suppliers registered on the ZDHC Gateway and Supplier Platform increased by 15.2%. The number of chemical products published on the ZDHC Gateway also rose by 27%.
The report also highlighted continued progress in several key areas. Suppliers within the ZDHC committed community achieved an average 79% MRSL conformance in Performance InCheck.
Wastewater performance also remained strong, with more than 75% of reports achieving Progressive or Aspirational performance for five key wastewater parameters.
Supplier to Zero progression advanced during the year, with 2,339 Level 1 certificates and 329 Level 2 certificates issued in 2025.
The supplier pathway was also redesigned with the launch of Suppliers Roadmap to Zero, while the foundation was laid for Supplier to Zero Version 2, scheduled for 2026.
Scott Echols, Chief Impact Officer of the ZDHC Foundation, said that in 2025, the organization published data for the first time showing how the use of the ZDHC Manufacturing Restricted Substances List (MRSL) and the wider Roadmap to Zero Program can reduce negative impacts on aquatic and human toxicity at individual factories.
He added that ZDHC had also begun work to expand these studies to the ecosystem level and extend its reach into other chemically intensive sectors.
Notably, ZDHC has framed the 2026–2030 period as a phase focused on scale, evidence and shared accountability.
Key priorities will include the rollout of Supplier to Zero Version 2 and deeper alignment between chemical management data and financial disclosure frameworks.
