Honoring Joseph Romano's legacy and lasting impact on sustainable fashion at Impact Day 2025
Each year at ZDHC’s Impact Day, we honour an individual whose professional excellence and personal integrity have left a lasting mark on the journey toward a more sustainable fashion industry. This year, ZDHC is proud to present the Lifetime Achievement Award to Joseph Romano, Retired Technical Director for MAST. Romano is a visionary whose dedication has inspired change and motivated countless others to join the movement for cleaner chemistry and a better world.
Joseph Romano has been working with ZDHC since its inception, helping to transform a shared vision for safer, more sustainable fashion into a global movement. Drawing on decades of experience, Joe was pivotal in developing the ZDHC MRSL and chemical management guidance, setting the foundation for ZDHC’s work today. He describes those early days as challenging but rewarding, building everything from scratch with a passionate team committed to pushing boundaries. Joe’s perseverance, collaborative spirit, and humility have shaped ZDHC’s journey and inspired lasting change in cleaner chemistry, impacting the industry and environment for generations.
“It was shared at a senior-level meeting that, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if at some point in the future we could have a video of our chief executive officers and factory personnel drinking a glass of water from the outfall of a discharge pipe?’ That was zero discharge, and then it got real.”
-Joe Romano
“I am humbled and honoured to celebrate, along with many friends and colleagues, the Lifetime Achievement Award of Joseph Romano, a remarkable person during the ZDHC convention week! A person precious to many of us, a person who lives a life with integrity, with purpose, and with a deep sense of responsibility to others.
Jo demonstrated an unlimited commitment to quiet and tenacious openness, collaboration, and perseverance throughout his journey. The most powerful example of his values, what spoke louder than any title and reflects the kind of man he is, compassionate, principled, and deeply human is when he stepped back to look after his wife. He crafted the audit protocol that is now forming the backbone of what we are proud to call Supplier to Zero. A work that we carry forward every day with his spirit beside us, quietly reminding us to stay true to our mission. We like to think we follow in his footsteps, carrying his legacy forward.
Thank you, Jo, for your brilliance and your example. This award celebrates how you live on in all of us.
Congratulations, Jo and thank you. You’ve earned this a hundred times over.”
- Francesco Pianca, ZDHC Chief Programme Officer
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