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The textile and clothing company OSDM – O Segredo do Mar is implementing a sustainability commitment strategy, which is based, on one hand, in the recent adhesion to the Organic Cotton Accelerator (OCA) and, on the other hand, in ‘in house’ research of several product development projects.
José Cardoso, the company’s administrator, told T Jornal that “entering the OCA is essential” to obtain “traceable and of known origin” organic cotton, at a time when serious doubts are raised about the provenance of such a scarce raw material. “Forgery of certificates in India, forced labour in China, an exponential increase in prices in the last 14 months and great difficulties in distribution due to the pandemic” are some problems the sector is facing.
Inside the factory’s walls, the company has several product development projects underway regarding sustainable raw materials – recycled and regenerated cotton – and their use, particularly in the sports area. “Despite doing ‘in house’ investigation, we resorted to CITEVE several times to overcome doubts. The research centre is always available to help”, he says.
About 90% of OSDM’s production in 2020 was made with sustainable materials, a percentage that this year is already on its way to 95%.