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MagnaColours Launches Sustainability Standard



February 9, 2017

Water-based ink manufacturer MagnaColours, Barnsley, U.K., has created a new sustainability standard for the textile-printing industry.

The company debuted the “GNA” mark at the Imprinted Sportswear Shows (ISS) event, held this past January in Long Beach, Calif. The mark is meant to encourage using sustainable and environmentally friendly methods throughout industry.

The GNA mark is designed to be available for use by any compliant ink manufacturer so that customers know what has gone into the products they buy, as well as to encourage more environmentally friendly industry methods. To meet GNA standards, inks cannot contain harmful chemicals such as PVC or AlkylPhenylEthoxylates (APEO), and they must be water-based formulations, making them safer for the environment and consumers.

The universal certificate for compliance also will benefit garment printers, according to the company, as achieving the GNA standard will reassure customers and protect their businesses. This would eliminate the need for products to be tested for different retailers while helping them appeal to a broader range of brands.


“At Magna, we’ve always tried to lead the industry, and we’re hoping that the development of GNA will continue that work,” says Tom Abbey, executive chairman, MagnaColours. “Textile inks are a high compliance risk and therefore can be a big concern for brands, this standard will bring reassurance to them, as well as their customers. GNA is our way of leading the garment-printing industry into more sustainable and environmentally friendly practices and of changing the industry for the better. We wanted to think bigger than our own brand, and the development of GNA really underlines what we stand for.”

The GNA system is specifically designed for water-based inks. Existing standards use CAS numbers; water-based inks use polymers, which generally don’t have CAS numbers, so a different approach seemed appropriate. — J.L.


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