GRS.

Textile Exchange’s recycled content standard, at version 5.0 since July 2026 with a mandatory implementation date of 31 December 2026. Two thresholds get collapsed into one: section A3.1a of the standard itself applies GRS to products containing 20 % or more recycled content, while A3.2b allows product-specific GRS labelling only at 50 % or more. Beyond content it sets social and environmental criteria for the processing sites and restricts hazardous chemicals used in processing, which is what separates it from a plain chain-of-custody standard. Its scope has a hard edge that A3.2d states outright: it does not address the chemicals present in the reclaimed material, or what may be present in the final GRS product. So a GRS certificate on a blank is a statement about recycled input and about how the mill ran, not a clean bill of health for the shirt, and repeating it as one in your own product copy is the mistake that gets a listing pulled.