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Organic Wool Processing
(Practices and Standards)

Vermont Organic Fiber Company follows The Organic Trade Association's North American Organic Fiber Standards in processing its wool. Standards include:

• Detergents for wool scouring shall be readily biodegradable. There shall be appropriate treatment of waste water
  • "Scouring of wool and animal fibers shall use detergents and degreasers that are readily biodegradable. Waste water from such operations must either be treated on site to conform to all federal, local and state environmental regulations for disposal of effluent or to be disposed in a municipal wastewater treatment facility."
  • "Water sources must be sustainable, all water released back into the water supply must meet pollution prevention levels for TOC, COD, dissolved solids, excess nitrates and phosphorus as defined in US and/or Canadian pollution control regulations."
• Combining and carding machinery must be cleaned of non-organic fiber prior to the processing of the organic fiber.
  • "Module feeding, suction feeding systems and initial conveyors, wool and other livestock scouring trains and basins must be cleaned physically or mechanically to remove any residue or trash prior to loading or feeding modules or container units of organic fiber into cleaning or processing system."
• Oils used in spinning shall be of vegetable or animal origin. The use of synthetic oils is prohibited.
  • "A processor of organic fibers shall not use: Synthetic textile oils, Synthetic waxes, Silicone or solvent based surfactants."
• All organic wool must be handled separately from non-organic to avoid contamination.
  • "Modules or containers or organic agriculture fibers shall be segregated from conventional fiber to prevent any potential for commingling or environmental contamination during all stages or post harvest handling...Handlers must designate a specific area for storage of modules or containers of organic fibers."
• Carbonizing wool and other animal fibers by fibers using acid baths is prohibited.
• Organic wool producers must practice non-toxic pest management.
  • "All facilities that process organic fiber products shall practice structural pest management techniques which stress sanitation, exclusion and prevention of pests, and nontoxic forms of remediation whenever possible"

This is a short list of all the standards that are in place for organic fiber processing. Please check out the current draft and complete list of The Organic Trade Association's North American Organic Fiber Standards.