From the Sector

Texcare International celebrated its comeback from 6 to 9 November with an exceptionally high level of international participation and top marks from the participants. 305 companies from 32 countries presented their innovations in automation and energy efficiency.

Over four days, the leading international trade fair for textile care presented innovations for laundries, dry cleaners and textile service companies with great success: 98 per cent of trade visitors were satisfied to extremely satisfied with how they achieved their goals for the trade fair; 52 per cent expect an improved industry economy. After eight years without Texcare due to the pandemic, the desire among exhibitors to exchange ideas and present innovations was palpable.

Industry celebrates its future potential
The industry is meeting the challenges of labour shortage and rising energy prices with a significant surge in innovation. The solutions are available, as demonstrated by the exhibitors with their machines, technologies and expertise. The leap towards robotisation was clearly visible at the stands. The circular economy was also in focus: many innovations showed how machine builders and textile manufacturers are working together to advance sustainability. Texcare provided the right impulse for companies in the textile care industry at the right time, enabling them to secure their successful market position by investing.

The partner industry associations of Texcare also draw a positive conclusion. Elgar Straub, CEO of VDMA Textile Care, Fabric and Leather Technologies, emphasises: “Expectations for Texcare International were very high after eight years without a trade fair, but they were even exceeded. I have rarely experienced such a good atmosphere at trade fairs in recent years. Furthermore, Texcare International was extremely well prepared by Messe Frankfurt, but the exhibitors also presented themselves to their global customers with exceptionally beautiful and informative stands. As expected, the topics that are driving the industry were hygiene, automation, digitalisation, logistics and AI. But my highlight of this fair was the truly excellent mood among visitors and exhibitors and the positive outlook for the future of textile care. Texcare International this year was simply a pleasure.”

Andreas Schumacher, General Manager of the German Textile Care Association, summarises: “There was a sense of a fresh start. You could feel that after eight long years, the exhibitors were eager to show their products and developments, and the visitors were excited about innovations. In particular, the topics of automation and digital solutions, as well as robotics, were the subject of much discussion, as many companies are facing a shortage of skilled workers. After the pandemic and the energy crisis, the discussions were once again characterised by a willingness to invest and a sense of optimism. Energy costs and corresponding opportunities for saving energy and other resources were also a key topic. Last but not least, companies in the industry are working to further improve their circular business models and to adapt to the upcoming regulations for the recycling of textiles.”

Project Re:Claim, a joint venture between the Salvation Army Trading Company and Project Plan B, has been nominated for the Plastics Industry Awards 2024 in the "Recycler of the Year" category. Using an ISEC evo system from PURE LOOP to process used garments and other textiles, the project is Europe’s first polyester textile recycling system. The award ceremony will take place on 22 November in London.

The UK produces more than half a million tonnes of polyester textile waste every year. Project Re:Claim aims to recycle post-industrial and post-consumer clothing and textiles. The focus is on the recycling of post-industrial polyester from contract textiles for hospitals or hotels (e.g. bed and table linen), workwear and school uniforms, as well as promotional banners (e.g. printed sports banners). The fabrics and textiles come from controlled material streams (closed-loop systems), ensuring minimal impurities. The recycling technology used is an ISEC evo 302 E from PURE LOOP. This innovative technology, developed by the EREMA Group’s member, enables efficient production of high-quality rPET from textile waste.

Europe’s first polyester textile recycling system
The plant, installed at a Salvation Army Trading Company (SATCoL) processing centre in Kettering in early 2024, represents Europe’s first commercial scale polyester textile recycling system specialising in post-consumer polyester. SATCoL is the trading arm of The Salvation Army and UK’s largest charity owned textile collector.

Together with Project Plan B, a specialist in garment design with a focus on design for recycling, PURE LOOP optimised its integrated shredder-extruder combination ISEC evo for the specific requirements. "Plan B has a vision, and we are convinced something great can come out of it," emphasises Manfred Dobersberger, Managing Director at PURE LOOP. Thanks to the configuration of shredder and extruder on one drive shaft and the patented double feed ram system, the ISEC evo 302 E gently processes discarded polyester into rPET, which can be reused for new yarns and other products. "Up until now, polyester that had no useful life left would have been disposed of," explains Tim Cross, CEO of Project Plan B. "With the ISEC evo, we can now return textile waste as a valuable material back to the supply chains. It’s a carbon saving solution, and it plays a significant role in helping our collective journey to Net Zero."

Textile recycling: an industry with growth potential
The plant aims to recycle 2,500 tonnes of polyester in its first year, doubling this amount in the second year. In addition to the environmental benefits such as diverting unwearable textiles away from landfill, initial estimates indicate that the production of pellets from Project Re:Claim uses only one-tenth of the energy compared with pellets produced from virgin polyester. One prerequisite for this is an energy-efficient recycling machine such as the ISEC evo.

With the publication of the half-yearly figures for 2024, SGL Carbon already announced that the company expects to achieve its adjusted EBITDA guidance for fiscal year 2024 at the lower end of the range of €160 to 170 million. Based on the preliminary figures for the first nine months of the fiscal year 2024, SGL Carbon confirms this statement.

According to preliminary figures, Group sales of SGL Carbon for the first nine months of fiscal year 2024 decreased by 4.8% year on year to €781.9 million (9M 2023: €821.7 million). Preliminary adjusted EBITDA, on the other hand, remained at a comparable level to the prior-year period, at €127.6 million (9M 2023: €130.0 million). Despite the slight sales decline, the adjusted EBITDA margin improved to 16.3% after nine months in 2024 (9M 2023: 15.8%). The reasons for the improved adjusted EBITDA margin are, in particular, product mix effects in the Graphite Solutions and Process Technology business units. By contrast, the ongoing weakness in demand for carbon and textile fiber products in the Carbon Fibers business unit and the early termination of a customer contract at Composite Solutions weighed on the Group's sales and earnings development.

The business unit Carbon Fibers manufactures carbon and textile fibers for the wind and automotive industries as well as various industrial applications. As expected by the Company for the fiscal year 2024, demand for carbon fibers from the wind and automotive industries remains weak. In addition, there is increasing competitive and price pressure due to global overcapacity for both carbon fibers and textile fibers. The company does not expect demand to recover in the coming months and the realizable prices for these products will remain at a low level beyond 2025. Furthermore, SGL Carbon expects that the anticipated improvement in sales and earnings for the Carbon Fibers business unit will be delayed and is revising its existing medium-term planning for Carbon Fibers.

Due to the associated expected deviation an event-driven impairment test is currently being carried out. This indicates a non-cash impairment charge of €60–80 million, which will be recorded in the fourth quarter of 2024. The impairment relates exclusively to Carbon Fibers; the operating business of the other business units is not affected.

SGL Carbon's equity ratio after the impairment is approx. 40% (September 30, 2024: 43.3% according to preliminary figures).

The review of all strategic options for the Carbon Fibers business unit, which was announced by SGL Carbon on February 23, 2024, and has already begun, remains unaffected by the impairment and is currently continuing.

A digital twin supply chain has recently been established by Swedish start-up PaperTale for Sail Racing – a brand well known for its durable and long-lasting performance garments for the marine industry.

The PaperTale system for Sail Racing fully maps a complex network, beginning with farmers in Australia, moving to garment workers in Pakistan and finally reaching consumers in Scandinavia. It incorporates data collection from the three countries using NFC tags and blockchain technology to provide detailed supply chain insights and ensure regulatory compliance for the brand.

Introducing the usually anonymous factory workers responsible for each individual garment to the person buying it is what sets PaperTale apart from other tracking systems – a next level of personalisation that will make a valuable contribution to raising the debate on the true cost of textiles.

“Our system captures the supply chain of a product from cradle to grave, in real-time,” says company founder Bilal Bhatti. “By integrating it into existing planning and management systems, factories and brands can gather and verify the flow of material and their social and environmental data in real-time. Data is added to a public blockchain so it is extremely hard to tamper with, further increasing trust. When a product is finalised, consumers can scan an NFC tag or QR-code to view the entire journey a product has travelled, which craftsmen were involved in the production, and if they have been paid fairly.”

“This technology is a game-changer in that we provide verified information about the social aspects of the manufacturing process and not just information about the components of the garment,” says Bilal. “We need products and processes to be much more connected with people, especially in such a complex supply chain where a high percentage of the work is carried out by contract workers who are unregistered and often exploited.

“When the entire product journey is visible using real-time and verified data, higher trust is created all the way from factories to consumers. Our system makes it possible to start the dialogue on the cost of sustainability, paving the way to increase incentives that result in proper wages, contracts and workplace safety. In respect of environmental sustainability, real-time data makes real-time measurement possible, which will also stimulate brands and factories to reduce emissions, water usage and pollution.”

The collaboration is further highlighted as the primary case study in a just-released white paper prepared by Deloitte, as a guide to how companies could most effectively prepare for the European Commission’s upcoming Digital Product Passport (DPP) and other related legislation.

TrusTrace, a global SaaS company with a market-leading platform for product traceability and supply chain compliance in fashion and retail, announced a strategic collaboration with platform engineering firm Xoriant and environmental impact data leader Carbon Trail to deliver a comprehensive solution that supports international brands that want to implement more product marketing accountability.

The new solution is the first-of-its-kind in the industry and leverages Xoriant’s strong data architecture, Carbon Trail’s environmental impact data, and TrusTrace’s supply chain traceability data to provide brands with the information they need to market their products with specific details on how they’re made and where.

This new technological solution coincides with the implementation of the Green Claims Code, which launched in 2021 and was updated in 2023 to factor in product-specific environmental impact and strives to ensure that claims are clear, accurate and not misleading; provide specific and clear information about materials used; use accurate product filters and avoid misleading imagery; and support claims with verifiable strategics and third party accreditation.

On the data side, brands need to measure environmental impact on a product level, not only just related to carbon, but covering 16+ indicators such as water, land use, and microfibre impacts. Once environmental impact and supply chain data is aggregated, information can then be incorporated into a Digital Product Passport, a record that can tell a product's entire value chain via QR code/digital tag that will be required for EU brands between 2026-2030. For example, a buyer can theoretically scan a product’s QR code and be taken to a unique URL link in which the environmental impact for that specific product is available to view. This can be displayed alongside traceability data – like where the product has been manufactured – in addition to other information like recyclability, microplastics, product certifications, all those elements also come into play.

Gerard Fres Ltd (GFL), a sweater manufacturer founded in France and based in Dhaka, Bangladesh, has adopted Pivot88, a TradeBeyond company, to optimize its quality inspection processes.

Established in 1997 and known for its focus on sustainability and ethical production, Gerard Fres has been a pioneer in the knitwear industry, specializing in pullovers and exporting around six million pieces annually to various countries including France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Canada, Brazil, and Australia.

By incorporating Pivot88's technology, Gerard Fres aims to further its mission of ensuring supply chain efficiency from product design to end-consumer satisfaction, while maintaining quality and ethical and sustainable production principles.

Pivot88, known for its robust compliance, quality testing, and traceability solutions, will provide Gerard Fres with a platform that offers real-time oversight and comprehensive data analytics. This will enable Gerard Fres to conduct more effective and efficient quality inspections.

Bcomp, a company in high-performance, natural fibre composites for the mobility-, recreational-, and mass transportation sectors, has been awarded the 2024 Altair Enlighten Award with BMW M GmbH, a renowned performance car subsidiary of BMW Group, for the BMW M Visionary Materials Seat, alongside other BMW M GmbH partners in the project. Manufactured with Bcomp’s ampliTex™ bio-based materials, the seat won in the Sustainable Process category.

The award-winning seat design re-envisions the manufacture and component materials to introduce a lighter, circular product that meets the demands of large-scale vehicle production. The seatback features a fully bio-based, high-performance natural fibre layup with ampliTex™-PP composite. By combining the structural and aesthetically pleasing visual properties of the material in one manufacturing step, production is both more efficient and dematerialised.

The accent has been on Design for Circularity, meaning that in addition to using natural and recycled materials, the BMW M Visionary Materials Seat’s recyclability has been taken into account right from the start of development. Less complex assemblies and monomaterials that can be separated by type enable the recyclability of the seat at the end of its life. Flax fibre composites are CO₂e-neutral from cradle to gate, and can reduce manufacturing-related emissions of high-performance composite parts by up to 85% compared to carbon fibre, depending on the application. Compared to current large-scale automotive plastic parts, Bcomp’s material solutions can reduce component weights by up to 50%, thanks to their low density and high stiffness.

The seat is a development project designed and engineered by long-time collaborators, BMW M GmbH and Bcomp, along with BMW Designworks, Automotive Management Consulting GmbH, Gradel Lightweight Sàrl and Lasso Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH. BMW M GmbH and Bcomp have already delivered innovations in previous development projects for high-end road cars and series application for race cars, such as interior and bodywork components for the BMW M4 GT4, bodywork for the BMW M4 DTM, and cooling shafts for the BMW iFE.20 in Formula E.

The annual Enlighten Awards are sponsored by Altair, a global leader in computational science and intelligence. They celebrate lightweighting innovations that reduce emissions, materials and energy consumption, while advancing material reuse and recyclability. The winning technologies are of significant interest to automotive engineers, manufacturers, policymakers and consumers.

Global Fashion Agenda (GFA), supported by its Insight Partner, Maersk, has released a new report, Reverse Logistics for Circular Fashion Systems. The report expands on how fashion brands, retailers, value chain partners, and logistics providers can leverage reverse logistics to cultivate an effective and holistic circular fashion system.

The publication is the culmination of extensive research, including consultations with and input from eight experts from eight brands and organisations - Maersk, Nike, H&M Group, Target, PUMA Group, Ellen MacArthur Foundation, VF Corporation, and Circle Economy Foundation. It highlights the critical role of logistics in supporting fashion companies to adopt more circular systems by managing the reverse flow of materials and products from end-users, and returning them back into the system for resale, remaking or recycling, extending their lifecycle, maximising value, and minimising waste.

Over 520 global regulations are currently in place, urging companies to rethink their sourcing and design strategies, emphasising regionalisation and circularity. Moreover 45% of brands surveyed by Global Fashion Agenda and the United Nations Environment Programme earlier this year reported that they have set targets to derive at least 10% of their revenue from circular business models by 2040. However, despite the potential, the fashion industry lacks a comprehensive system for circularity, with current fragmented approaches failing to achieve commercial viability. Deeper collaboration with logistics partners can support more streamlined operations, while aiding compliance with tightening regulatory requirements and in demonstrating positive environmental impacts.

To guide stakeholders, the publication outlines essential elements for implementing effective reverse logistics, including:

• Network design: Expanding reverse logistics beyond consumer returns to capture and valorise post-industrial textile waste flows and unsold goods.
• Financial ownership: Establishing clear financial models to define roles, responsibilities, and profit-sharing, enhancing collaboration and investment.
• Boosting collection volumes: Developing infrastructure for efficient collection and processing of textile waste, essential for scaling solutions and reducing recycled fibre costs.

For the second year running, Global Standard is taking consumers #BehindTheSeams this September, highlighting the sustainable and social qualities of GOTS-certified products – from runway fashion to hygiene products and so much more in between. Building on the success of last year, #BehindTheSeams 2024 has expanded to take over the entire month, Sept. 2-30, with more education on the people and practices making sustainable textiles, plus giveaways planned each day.

Throughout September, Global Standard introduces daily giveaways on Instagram, featuring partnerships with GOTS-certified brands such as Frugi, FC St. Pauli, LangerChen, Natracare, Mandala, Dedicated, and more. Additionally, a giveaway will be hosted on behindtheseams.eco, where visitors can learn about sustainability by answering daily questions while earning entries. The grand prize is a sustainable trip to Paris. This includes train travel, a two-night stay at the eco-friendly Eden Lodge Paris and a private fitting for a custom GOTS-certified jacket by John Preston, the only brand offering made-to-measure GOTS-certified fashion.

#BehindTheSeams is also spotlighting "organic in-conversion" farming and urging brands to support farmers during the critical transition period from conventional to organic. In this campaign, GOTS has partnered with the Organic Cotton Accelerator, an organisation dedicated to supporting farmers throughout the cotton supply chain as they make the shift to and sustain organic practices. Together, GOTS and OCA want to send a message that brands can bolster the organic cotton supply by investing in and buying organic in-conversion cotton.

In the presence of CEO Eelco Spoelder, Autoneum opened its new production facility in Pune in Western India on August 28, 2024. The opening of the third plant in the key automotive market of India is in line with the Company’s strategic focus on future profitable growth with a particular emphasis on Asian growth markets. Series production of carpet systems, interior trim, wheelhouse outer liners, e-motor encapsulations and other noise protection components for local and international vehicle manufacturers has already begun.

The plant in Pune in the western Indian state of Maharashtra is wholly owned by Autoneum and complements the existing production facility in Behror near New Dehli in the north and the joint venture plant in Chennai in the south of India. During the inauguration ceremony in Pune, Autoneum CEO Eelco Spoelder said: “With the opening of our new plant, Autoneum gains access to the third of the four major automobile production centers in India. By expanding our presence in this strategically important region, we can further strengthen our position in Asia, the world’s largest automotive market.”

The building spans an area of 7 500 square meters and includes modern production equipment. The Pune plant will supply both local and international customers with noise-reducing lightweight components for the interior and exterior of vehicles of all drive types. Pune will be the first Autoneum plant in India with the capability to produce Hybrid-Acoustics PET felts for e-motor encapsulation. Components made of Hybrid-Acoustics PET are characterized by their lightweight construction and noise protection that are optimized for electric vehicles. They consist entirely of PET, which is largely obtained from recycled fibers, and thus meet customer demand for environmentally friendly mobility solutions.

As announced in March, Pune is one of two plants that Autoneum is opening this year in the important Asian growth markets of China and India. The new joint venture plant in Changchun in the northern Chinese province of Jilin will ramp up production of inner dashes, interior floor insulators and other NVH (noise, vibration, harshness) components for European, Japanese and Chinese car manufacturers from the end of 2024. Both new plants in Pune and Changchun are strategically located thanks to their proximity to important customers. In India, Autoneum supplies European, American, Indian, Japanese and Korean vehicle manufacturers.