BenQ Materials Xpore Yunlin Facility Awarded bluesign® Level 3 PROGRESSIVE Rating

Environmental Dimension Surges to 87% with Management and Occupational Health & Safety Approaching Highest Standards
Empowering Global Outdoor Brands' Sustainable Transition with International Forward-Looking Standards

Material science leader BenQ Materials announced today that its eco-friendly functional textile brand Xpore Yunlin production facility has successfully passed the second bluesign® R2 assessment. The overall performance score significantly increased to 81%, officially promoting the facility to a Level 3: PROGRESSIVE System Partner. This rating symbolizes that in terms of chemical input stream management, process safety, and environmental sustainability governance, the facility has surpassed the basic requirements of mere regulatory compliance, demonstrating forward-looking management capabilities that actively lead industry standards.
 

Strict Enforcement of Process Discipline: Major Non-Conformities Reduced to Zero, Environmental Indicators Surge by 18%

Bluesign® is globally recognized as one of the strictest environmental safety and chemical assessment systems for textiles, conducting rigorous reviews across the entire process from input streams and occupational health and safety to output environmental monitoring. According to the latest assessment progress report released by bluesign technologies ag, the BenQ Materials Yunlin facility demonstrated high implementation efficiency for improvements during this review:

• Major Non-Conformities (Major NCs) Fully Cleared to Zero: Deficiencies found in the initial assessment have been completely resolved and closed, achieving full compliance.
• Chemical source management aligns with the highest global standards: The Xpore Yunlin campus has strictly implemented bluesign®'s "Input Stream Management," meaning that the compliant chemicals used on Xpore's production lines directly equate to the highest protection level of ZDHC Level 3 in industry standards.
• Significant Leap in Environmental Management: The environmental dimension score surged to 87%, marking a substantial increase of 18 percentage points and demonstrating BenQ Materials' profound achievements in waste treatment, energy/resource recycling, and emission control.
• Management and OH&S Performance Nearing Highest Standards: The Management System scored 89%, while Occupational Health & Safety (OH&S) reached 86%, both approaching the Level 4 (Aspirational, requiring 90%) threshold representing the highest benchmark.

 

Upholding Fluorine-Free and Green Circularity to Provide a Reliable, Sustainable Backup for Global Top Brands

BenQ Materials stated, "Ever since its inception, Xpore has consistently upheld its original aspiration of driving the circular economy through material science. Achieving the bluesign® Level 3 PROGRESSIVE recognition for our Yunlin facility is not only high recognition of BenQ Materials' green manufacturing strength by an international independent third-party institution, but also our firm commitment to global brand clients. Amid trends where global supply chains face stricter ESG regulations and detoxification requirements, Xpore is able to provide the most trustworthy and high-performance sustainable solutions."

Xpore focuses on developing 100% PFC-free (fluorine-free) and solvent-free eco-friendly waterproof breathable microporous membrane technologies, alongside innovative sustainable technologies like e2cycle, which transforms electronic waste into functional textiles. Achieving bluesign® Level 3 certification for the Yunlin production facility not only significantly reduces the burden on global outdoor sports and fashion brand partners regarding sustainable traceability and chemical compliance, but also helps clients accelerate the achievement of Scope 3 carbon reduction targets and product green transformation.

About bluesign® Certification: Reshaping Safety Standards in the Textile Industry from "Input Stream Management"

Established in Switzerland in 2000, bluesign® is globally recognized as one of the strictest and most authoritative textile environmental safety and chemical assessment systems. Unlike traditional labels that only conduct random testing on "final finished products," bluesign® adopts an original "Input Stream Management" model, screening chemicals, raw materials, water resources, and energy comprehensively at the very source of production to prevent hazardous substances from entering the manufacturing process, fundamentally safeguarding the ecological environment, occupational health and safety, and consumer health.

Facing increasingly stringent sustainability regulations in Europe and the Americas (such as the PFAS ban on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive [CSDDD]), bluesign® certification has become a critical threshold for international Tier-1 outdoor and sportswear brands when screening their supply chains. Passing this certification not only demonstrates extremely high transparency and traceability at the manufacturing end, but also substantially helps brand clients reduce Scope 3 carbon emissions and chemical risks, serving as a key driving force in leading the global textile industry away from traditional high-energy manufacturing toward a low-carbon, non-toxic circular economy.
 

The Challenges and Difficulty of Reaching Level 3: Moving from "Passive Compliance" to "Forward-Looking Governance"

Among tens of thousands of textile and material suppliers globally, only a minority possessing profound R&D and management strengths can become bluesign® system partners, making the cross to the Level 3 (PROGRESSIVE) threshold even more demanding:

• Rigorous "Major Non-Conformities Cleared to Zero" Requirement: In ultra-detailed reviews covering hundreds of Restricted Substance Lists (BSSL) items and process safety standards, all major non-conformities must be completely resolved and closed to qualify for promotion.
• Comprehensive Systemic Maturity: Because the rating adopts a weighted total score system (a total score of 75% or higher is required), outstanding performance in a single aspect is insufficient; enterprises must simultaneously achieve mature standards across key areas such as "chemical input source control," "environmental emission monitoring," and "occupational safety protection".

The BenQ Materials Xpore Yunlin facility crossed the Level 3 threshold this time with an overall score of 81%, and secured exceptional performances of 87% in environmental management and 89% in management systems, representing that it has not only completely eliminated major risks, but also ranks among the leading echelon of the global high-performance textile supply chain in terms of green manufacturing maturity.
 

Continually Optimizing Energy and Resource Productivity to Lead the Low-Carbon Textile Ecosystem

Looking ahead, BenQ Materials will continue to follow bluesign®'s improvement roadmap, deepening energy and resource productivity alongside factory green energy allocation, while steadily pushing toward the highest Level 4 benchmark. BenQ Materials will continue to leverage its cross-disciplinary material technology integration advantages, joining hands with global value chain partners to co-create a sustainable future characterized by performance, safety, and environmental friendliness.

BenQ Materials firmly believes that excellence in green material science must withstand the highest specifications of production-line verification and international standard testing. We sincerely invite partners across the global outdoor sports, functional apparel, and sustainable textile industries to visit the Xpore booth for exchanges, and jointly witness how material science leads low-carbon manufacturing to empower infinite possibilities for future high-end performance.