The US Cotton Trust Protocol, a new sustainability program with comprehensive farm-level data for cotton measurements, announced a collaboration with TextileGenesis, a pioneering traceability platform, to better monitor cotton supply chains.

As industry authorities dig further into farming practices and consumers pay more attention to where their garments and other textiles come from, the Trust Protocol acknowledges the need for increased transparency in supply chains.

President of the US Cotton Trust Protocol, Dr. Gary Adams said that today, having a balanced view of every move in the supply chain is critical for brands and retailers.

The Trust Protocol joins TextileGenesis to bring another level of traceability to its current sustainability credits, offering sustainability benchmarks to growers, traders, and retailers.

The blockchain adds a transaction network for all of these separate institutions that is both trustworthy and verifiable by third parties that can be checked without disclosing any confidential information. This helps each organization to maintain its independence by gaining a greater understanding of the supply chain, allowing for more sustainable practices than ever – saving resources and the environment.

Founder and CEO of TextileGenesis, Amit Gautam said that working with the US Cotton Trust Protocol provides a powerful alternative for brands and retailers searching for more sustainable fiber and increased visibility in their supply chains, thanks to its strong emphasis on robust data and the strength of its screening activities.

TextileGenesis will trace a bale of cotton as it is rolled off a farm, sent to a gin, spun into  yarn, turned into a garment, and sent to the retailer using the blockchain. Any of these occurrences can be recorded on the blockchain as a transaction that can be tracked and verified across the supply chain.

As a result, the TextileGenesis platform complements the Trust Protocol's sustainability metrics with a more interesting tale about which shirts went to which Nordstrom racks, or which manufacturer or aftermarket distributor received the textiles that became the cotton.

Since its launch in 2020, the Trust Protocol has partnered with over 300 brands, retailers, mills, and manufacturers, and it plans to extend its functions. Pilot tests with selected labels and plants will launch in early June 2021 as a result of this partnership. The deployment will be completed in 2022.