As a result of the audits of IDFL, a reliable and accredited certification body for textile standards, our Maya Tekstil Istanbul Sancaktepe Down Washing and Sorting Facility has been awarded the Responsible Down Standard (RDS) and Recycled Claim Standard (RCS) certificates. In this article, we delve into the details of the RDS Standard, which is critical to animal welfare.
The RDS Standard certifies products containing bird and goose down from certified farms.
RDS certifies that the down used in products filled with bird and goose down are obtained from birds and geese that are raised in accordance with the necessary criteria, with the principle of animal welfare.
Key elements guaranteed by RDS in four items
- It aims to ensure that down is obtained from animals that have not been harmed needlessly.
- This standard is developed by promoting practices that respect humane treatment of birds, ducks, and geese.
- Tools are provided for companies and consumers to know what is in their products and make accurate claims accordingly.
- RDS ensures that obtaining down does not cause any pain, suffering or stress; it also enables the use of an identification and traceability system applied to the source of bird and goose down.
At Maya’s Professional, we believe that RDS is a meaningful way to enhance robust animal welfare practices, and we are proud to be awarded this certification.
Within the scope of the certificate, we have been certified in the fields of goose and bird down separation, washing, storage, production, drying and processing within home textile and filling categories, and we have documented that we cover the relevant process categories carried out under the responsibility of our organization for the certified products. With this ICEA certificate, we continue to work in line with our approach based on sustainability and ethical approach; as ICEA strongly emphasizes, we carry out our work within business processes that comply with ethical and environmental standards for green economy-oriented production.
We invite all stakeholders that procure and produce goose and bird down, to develop products and services that will include the blue logo label of RDS. We call upon all organizations and businesses to consider the following 6 main principles while turning to goose and bird down, one of the best insulation materials offered by nature.
With RDS
- Protect animal welfare.
- Have healthy communication channels.
- Ensure stakeholder engagement.
- Have a reliable certificate.
- Stay away from live plucking and force-feeding.
- Enforce a robust chain of control from the farm to the final producer.