Why is the EPA working with garment care professionals?
Since 1992, EPA has worked in partnership with the drycleaning industry as part of EPA’s Design for the Environment Program. With approximately 34,000 commercial shops in neighborhoods and malls across the country, drycleaners are one of the largest group of chemical users that come into direct contact with the public. Because of the potential health and environmental concerns associated with perchloroethylene, or “perc,” a chemical solvent used by most drycleaners, EPA and stakeholders from the drycleaning industry and public interest groups have been working together to evaluate other cleaning process controls and technologies. How did the DFE Garment and Textile Care Program get started? The DFE Garment and Textile Care Program (GTCP) was initiated after a 1992 international roundtable on drycleaning in which industry leaders and EPA agreed that health and environmental issues surrounding the drycleaning industry could be addressed most effectively through the Design for the Environ
