OEKO-TEX STeP Certification

What STeP Audits

STeP assessments are organized in modules covering the systems a responsible facility needs. Chemical management examines the inventory of dyes and auxiliaries in use and how they are stored, handled, and substituted. Environmental performance looks at measurable outputs such as water and energy use, wastewater, and emissions. Social responsibility and health-and-safety modules address working conditions, while environmental and quality management modules check that improvement is systematic rather than a one-off clean-up for audit day.

Facilities receive a scored result rather than a simple pass mark, which gives brands a way to distinguish a factory that barely meets entry expectations from one performing at the top level — and gives factories a concrete improvement path to discuss with customers.

How Certification Works

A facility applies through an OEKO-TEX institute, completes a detailed self-assessment, and is then audited on site by the institute’s auditors, who verify the assessment against records, measurements, and the physical plant. Certification is issued for a defined period with monitoring during the term, and renewal requires re-assessment. Because the audit is at facility level, one STeP certificate can support many customers and product lines made at that site.

STeP is also the production backbone of the Made in Green product label: a product can only carry that label when the facilities behind it are STeP-certified. Chemical suppliers interact with the system from the other side through Eco Passport, which certifies the chemicals themselves.

Who Uses STeP

Dyeing and finishing plants, garment factories, and other textile and leather production sites use STeP to demonstrate their management systems to international buyers with one audit instead of many overlapping questionnaires. For brands, asking whether a mill or factory is STeP-certified is a quick filter when building a more responsible supplier base, and the scored reports help sourcing teams have specific conversations about wastewater, chemistry, or worker safety.

STeP complements product-level tools rather than replacing them: a STeP factory can still make a product that fails a buyer’s own testing, and a Standard 100-certified product can come from a facility whose wider practices have not been audited. Responsible sourcing programs usually combine both levels.

FAQs

Does STeP certify products or factories?

Factories. STeP certifies production facilities and their management systems across chemical, environmental, quality, social, and safety modules. Products are covered by other OEKO-TEX tools such as Standard 100.

How is STeP different from a brand’s own factory audit?

STeP is a standardized, third-party certification with scored modules and periodic monitoring, so one certificate can be shared with many customers instead of each brand auditing the same site separately.

Why does STeP use scoring instead of pass or fail?

Scoring shows how far a facility has progressed and where it can improve, which helps buyers compare suppliers and helps factories prioritize investment.

Sustainability Certifications & Standards

This guide is part of the Apparel Search sustainability certifications series. Browse the full series below, or start from the manufacturing guides hub.

• Global Recycled Standard (GRS) Certification
• Recycled Claim Standard (RCS) Certification
• Organic Content Standard (OCS) Certification
• Responsible Wool Standard (RWS) Certification
• Responsible Down Standard (RDS) Certification
• Responsible Mohair Standard (RMS) Certification
• OEKO-TEX Made in Green
• OEKO-TEX Eco Passport
• Digital Product Passport for Textiles
• Extended Producer Responsibility for Textiles
• France’s Repair Bonus for Clothing and Shoes
• Cradle to Cradle Certified® Products
• B Corp Certification
• Leather Working Group Auditing
• Bio-Based Leather Alternatives