The Global Recycling Standard (GRS) was originally formulated by CU Certification in 2008, and the ownership was transferred to the Textile Exchange on January 1, 2011. The previous version of the standard, GRS 3.0, was released in 2014. GRS 4.0 replaces GRS 3.0, effective from July 1, 2017. Websites certified for GRS3.0 shall comply with GRS 4.0 from July 1, 2018. The next regular revision of the GRS is in 2021.

The Global Recycling Standard (GRS) is an international, voluntary and comprehensive product standard that specifies third-party certification requirements for recycling content, production and marketing chain of custody, social and environmental practices, and chemical restrictions. The goal of GRS is to increase the use of recycled materials in products and reduce/eliminate the hazards caused by their production.

Today, GRS has been detonated by brands such as ZARA, H&M, ADIDAS, Uniqlo, NIKE, IKEA, GAP and other brands to detonate the entire industrial chain, linking all supply chains (from raw material-production-processing-trade-brand), up to brand owners, down to Fabric firm.