From the Sector

July 12, the European Parliament adopted its position on the Ecodesign Regulation, which aims to improve the environmental sustainability and circularity of products placed on the EU market, including textiles.

While EURATEX recognises the importance of accelerating the green transition and welcomes the progress on the legislation, it regrets the EP’s approach to target the textile industry in a Regulation designed to be a framework legislation for all sectors.  

Representing 160 000 European textile companies, EURATEX has been highlighting that a successful legal framework is based on an inclusive and feasible approach, ensures sufficient capacity and sets a timeline for businesses to adjust. Therefore, EURATEX welcomes MEPs’ call for tailored support and smooth transition for SMEs. Strongly advocated by EURATEX, the European Parliament also strengthens the provisions on market surveillance, which is a key element for ensuring level playing field for EU companies in the Single Market.

As businesses already face difficulties to navigate through all ongoing policy and legislative initiatives, EURATEX appreciates the efforts of the EP to ensure legislative consistency, the lack of which may only create additional costs and administrative burdens for companies. The inclusivity and transparency of the future Ecodesign Forum have indeed received a positive boost.

EURATEX regrets that the European Parliament has overlooked the plea for legislative coherence on substances of concern and for keeping the ESPR aligned with existing chemical legislation to avoid overlapping or conflicting regulation. EURATEX advises that social sustainability aspects should be addressed within the due diligence legislative framework.

Regarding the future Ecodesign requirements for textiles, these will have to be based on reliable data, and supported by thorough analysis and impact assessments. The requirements should be set out in the textile-specific Delegated Act and should be developed with relevant stakeholders.

As the ESPR trialogue negotiations between the European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the European Commission unfold in autumn, EURATEX continues to stress the guiding principle of “fit-for-purpose” rules and the balance between high environmental objectives and competitiveness of companies.

Moreover, on Tuesday 11 July, the European Parliament's position on Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) was adopted by MEPs with 396 votes in favour, 102 against and 131 abstentions. EURATEX expresses concerns on this text because of the inclusion of standalone finishing plants in the scope of the new IED. This creates inconsistencies with the recently finalised Textile BREF document (adopted in Sevilla by all parties), which regulates industrial emissions for both pretreatments and finishing plants. Standalone finishing companies, typically SMEs, now face challenges to comply with specifications which were originally designed for different and bigger companies.

The Premium Group, an European event and trade fair organiser for fashion and lifestyle, is entering a new chapter: founder Anita Tillmann is handing over to her business partner Jörg Arntz and the experienced management team. After almost 21 years of successful management, serial entrepreneur Anita Tillmann will retire from operating business at the end of this year. She will remain with the Premium Group as a strategic advisor.

Jörg Arntz, the long-standing managing director of Premium Group, will continue to lead the company as managing director, with the strategic support of Anita Tillmann. Operational implementation and content development will continue with the proven PREMIUM and SEEK teams in line with the formats. "I am delighted to have had Anita by my side over the past 10 years. The goal remains to strengthen the Premium Group's position as a forward-thinking and established platform in the national and international markets. We challenge traditional KPIs, develop sustainable business models hand-in-hand with the industry and share this know-how with our communities. We will continue to drive innovation and growth in close exchange with the industry. The demand for an organised industry meeting in Berlin is still very high. We are firmly convinced that the relevance of personal exchange will become even more important in the future and with it modern platforms like PREMIUM and SEEK."

BTMA member Tatham has just delivered an advanced industrial hemp processing line to a major customer in Turkey and had many fruitful discussions about its machinery for the processing of natural staple fibres at the recent ITMA 2023 held in Milan from June 8-14.

The Bradford, UK-based company continues to equip mills around the world with staple fibre spinning and nonwoven technologies for manufacturing a wide range of products, while its TS system for drives and controls is suitable for retrofitting to all OEM textile machines, to provide user-friendly control systems with complete synchronisation and significant energy savings.

“We are currently fielding a lot of enquiries for technologies for the decortication, fibre opening and fabric forming of hemp,” said Tatham director Tim Porritt. “This is being driven by the sustainability of the fibre and concerns over climate change as brands seek solutions to meet their sustainability goals. As a result, there has been an explosion in the interest in hemp production, from farmers through to fibre production, and a wide range of new potential end-uses are being explored.”

Tatham offers a complete ‘Field to Fibre’ service for industrial hemp fibre production and its decortication and cleaning process has a gentle opening action to maintain the fibre length, to make it suitable for subsequent processing.

RadiciGroup took part in the Phygital Sustainability Expo, this year in its fourth edition, which was held in Rome on 5 and 6 July. This event is entirely dedicated to the ecological transition of fashion and design brands through technological innovation. The show is an important platform for discussion on sustainable transition issues, involving Italian and international brands, fashion tech start-ups, representatives from the institutional, business and educational fields, and consumers.

RadiciGroup's participation in the event was further evidence of the Group's commitment to making a contribution to sustainability and circularity in the fashion and textile industry, in collaboration with all the other players in the supply chain. During the narrated fashion show, held on the evening of Wednesday, 5 July, in the evocative archaeological complex of the Imperial Forum Museum, RadiciGroup presented a maxi dress made of Biofeel® eleven, a yarn of completely natural origin featuring high technical, aesthetic and environmental performance. This yarn is produced starting from a small bean cultivated in India on semi-arid land and thus does not compete with human food production. These beans yield a special oil ideal for obtaining biopolymers, such as the one produced by Arkema and spun into yarn at RadiciGroup in Italy.

The dress is not only made from a low environmental impact raw material, but is also an example of ecodesign: the garment was realized on a Shima Seiki WholeGarment knitting machine, where the entire item was knit directly from spools of Biofeel® eleven yarn, bypassing the traditional stages of weaving and tailoring. It is a zero-waste process, as only the quantity of yarn strictly needed for the garment is used.

Biofeel® eleven yarn endows the dress with unique characteristics, including low moisture absorption, greater lightness and high resistance and durability. Besides being 100% biobased, the yarn is also 100% recyclable because it is made of a mono-material polymer, which facilitates its end-of-life recycling and processing into new materials suitable for any application requiring high performance.

Dibella supports organic Fairtrade cotton farmers in sourcing non-GMO seeds for the next harvest.

Together with the Chetna Organic cooperative, Dibella has long supported Indian smallholder farmers, on whose fields the organic Fairtrade cotton for the company's sustainable contract textiles grows. To secure the livelihoods of the smallholders, Dibella is taking action this year with a special measure: at the beginning of the new growing season, the company pre-finances the procurement of the genetically unmodified (GMO-free) seeds.

The beginning of the monsoon season (June to September) marks the start of the cotton year in India. The small family farms where the organic Fairtrade cotton for the sustainable Dibella range is grown prepare their fields for sowing. The seeds needed this year come directly from their buyer Dibella. The company organised and co-financed the procurement of the seeds together with the Chetna Organic cooperative.

Ending the debt trap
"At the beginning of the cotton season, smallholder farmers are often forced to take out a loan to finance the seeds they need. For this, very high double-digit interest rates are charged in India, which can lead to excessive debt for families, especially when there are crop failures due to pest infestations or unfavourable weather conditions, for example," reports Simon Bartholomes, Purchasing Manager at Dibella. "We decided years ago to break this vicious circle by pre-financing the genetically unmodified seed. It is procured by our partner Chetna Organic and distributed free of charge to the farming families whose organic cotton is processed into our organic Fairtrade textiles after the harvest. This year we have allocated a sum of USD 50,000 for this purpose.

Win-win situation
This measure offers advantages for all parties involved: Through direct access to the seeds, Dibella enables the farmer families to have a more adequate livelihood. At the same time, the farmers benefit from the expertise of Chetna Organic staff, who support them in organic farming. Dibella, in turn, covers its annual demand for organic Fairtrade cotton with a right of first refusal. This gives the company full control over its entire supply chain, which starts at the cotton field.

Leaders assembled at the renowned forum for sustainability in fashion to mobilise action and usher in a transformative phase for the industry.

Hosted in the Copenhagen Concert Hall, on 27-28 June, Global Fashion Summit convened over 1000 revered representatives from brands, retailers, NGOs, policy, manufacturers, and innovators to transform ambition into action. The Summit was presented by Global Fashion Agenda (GFA), the non-profit organisation that is accelerating the transition to a net positive fashion industry, under the patronage of HRH The Crown Princess of Denmark.

This year’s theme ‘Ambition to Action’, galvanised participants to transform ambitions into concrete actions that can drive the industry towards more sustainable practices, both socially and environmentally. Under this premise, the event presented content experiences focused on tangible and evidence-based impact, with over half of the programme dedicated to educational and action-oriented business case studies.

This edition included more speakers and content than ever before, with the dynamic and action-orientated sessions spanning across four different stages. The Summit also facilitated more than 10 strategic roundtable meetings that brought together executives and policy makers for productive dialogues on how to address pressing sustainability issues and act accordingly. The content integrated the five priorities of the Fashion CEO Agenda, alongside critical challenges and tangible opportunities relating to some of the key forces that are shaping the fashion industry today: data, policy and storytelling.

Attendees heard from 137 speakers including HRH The Crown Princess of Denmark; Antoine Arnault, Image & Environment, LVMH Group; Jonathan Anderson, Creative Director & Founder, JW Anderson and Creative Director, Loewe; Virginijus Sinkevičius,  Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, European Commission; Henriette Hallberg Thygesen, Chief Delivery Officer, Maersk; Aude Vergne, Chief Sustainability Officer, Chloé; Nicolaj Reffstrup, Founder, GANNI; Fanny Moizant, Co-Founder & President, Vestiaire Collective; Noel Kinder, Chief Sustainability Officer, Nike; Óscar García Maceiras, CEO, Inditex; Dr. Lewis Akenji, Managing Director, Hot or Cool Institute; Rachel Arthur, Advocacy Lead, Sustainable Fashion, United Nations Environment Programme; and many more.

Innovation Forum connected fashion companies with sustainable solution providers
This year’s Summit also presented an Innovation Forum, enabling small and large companies to meet with 26 sustainable solution providers – equipping them with the concrete tools to quickly turn words into meaningful actions. More than 350 facilitated business meetings between fashion companies and sustainable solution providers took place during the Summit.

Global Fashion Summit: Boston Edition will take place on 27 September 2023, which will mark the second time the Summit has been hosted outside of Copenhagen in its 14-year history.

Archroma, a leader in specialty chemicals towards sustainable solutions, and Somelos, a vertically integrated textile group in Portugal, have joined forces to advance sustainable cotton processing with a new water-saving dyeing and finishing process that generates no wastewater.

Conventional cotton dyeing and finishing requires substantial water and chemical inputs and produces a large volume of wastewater. Long-lasting wash-down effects in particular, traditionally require two water-intensive processes: one to get the color intensity and one to achieve the washed-down contrast. Relying on such resource-intensive processes is of particular concern in nations affected by drought and water scarcity, like Portugal, the home of Somelos since its founding in 1958.

To address this challenge, Archroma and Somelos have now developed the New Dry Dyeing/Ox Finishing process for the production of bottoms and shirting in cotton fabrics. Based on Archroma’s Pad-Ox dyeing process, which combines oxidation and fixation into one step, and the latest technologies for washdown effects, including ozone and laser treatments, it delivers water savings of up to 97% compared to conventional cotton dyeing and finishing.

The New Dry Dyeing/Ox Finishing process only uses water to prepare the dye and oxidation baths. Archroma Diresul® RDT liquid pre-reduced sulfur dyes ensure easy washdown and direct fixation—with no need for pre-washing—delivering shorter processing, cleaner production and high wash -fastness.

Bangladesh will stage the world’s first climate conference for the fashion industry this autumn, on 12 October. The Bangladesh Climate Action Forum will convene policy makers, garment manufacturers, fashion retailers and other industry stakeholders to look at solutions for decarbonising global textile supply chains.

The event will focus on technological and financial challenges around reducing emissions. Most of the world’s leading fashion brands have now set ambitious targets for reducing supply chain emissions. These targets relate to 2030 by which time many brands aim to reduce emissions by 50 per cent, and 2050 where most fashion brands aim to be carbon neutral.

The Bangladesh Climate Forum Action will examine causes of climate crisis, its urgency, impacts we have already seen, and what we can expect under both businesses as usual and rapid decarbonisation scenarios.

Also presenting at the event will be the Government of Bangladesh, which will address Bangladesh’s actions to mitigate the impacts of the climate crisis. Bangladesh is particularly vulnerable to climate change and is ranked the seventh extreme disaster risk-prone country in the world according to a report from the Global Climate Risk Index 2021. Tropical cyclones, tornadoes, floods, coastal and riverbank erosion, droughts and landslides are the major climate-induced hazards in Bangladesh.

The Bangladesh Climate Forum Action will also look at approaches towards decarbonization, including NetZero goals and timelines. Speakers will discuss globally recognised pathways for electricity/transportation/industry decarbonisation.

Renewable energy will also be under discussion. If fashion brands are to hit climate targets, it is imperative that supply chains switch to renewable energy and away from gas and fossil fuels. The event will look at challenges around the de-carbonisation of the electricity grid in Bangladesh, as well as the rate of transition toward renewable resources by garment factories, including solar power.

A key element of the event will be evaluation of practical solutions for Bangladesh’s RMG industry. It will profile specific solutions such as energy efficiency, machine upgrades, the electrification of thermal loads, direct power purchase agreements and biomass fed thermal systems. It will also discuss the challenges faced in the industry including business climate (and cycles), pricing, financing challenges, target setting and execution, policy opportunities, knowledge gaps and availability/scaling of solutions.

Financial challenges around decarbonisation of supply chains are significant, and it is far from clear who will pay for the technological upgrades required. While some investment support systems exist – such as lower interest financing – these are not always available, accessible or affordable for the majority of the RMG companies.

The event will explore financial options, changes to business/pricing models, opportunities for de-risking/underwriting investments, direct investment and other tools that need to emerge to address financial challenges and plug the funding gap. The event will also explore opportunities to decouple climate action from business cycles so that the 2030 targets can be met.

ECHA’s Enforcement Forum agreed to launch an EU-wide project to check that products sold online comply with REACH restrictions and the requirements of the Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) Regulation. Its subgroup on Biocidal Products Regulation, BPRS, agreed to launch a project on labelling of biocidal products.

The Enforcement Forum including its BPR subgroup (BPRS) is a network of enforcement authorities from the EU and EEA. They are responsible for coordinating the enforcement of the REACH, CLP, PIC, POPs and the Biocidal Product Regulations with the aim of protecting our health and the environment while ensuring a level playing field for companies across the EU market.

Inspections in this REACH-EN-FORCE (REF)-13 project will take place in 2025. The objective is to check that products, such as toys, common household goods or chemicals, sold online comply with REACH restrictions. Inspectors will also check that mixtures are classified, labelled and packaged in line with CLP and that online offers include the required information about the hazards of the mixture. Inspectors may also check compliance with restrictions under the Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) Regulation and the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive.

The online sale of chemicals is an area of high non-compliance. In a previous Forum project (REF-8), inspectors often found that mixtures and articles sold online contained restricted hazardous substances, including those causing cancer. The project found that 78 % of controlled mixtures or articles did not fulfil the conditions of REACH restrictions.

In the upcoming project, inspectors can rely on stricter rules governing online sales, such as the Digital Services Act and General Product Safety Regulation. These new laws are expected to make enforcement stronger.

The Forum’s subgroup on Biocidal Products Regulation (BPRS), agreed that the next major enforcement project on biocides (BEF-3) will focus on controlling the correctness of product labels for biocidal products. Inspectors will check that the information on the labelling of biocides corresponds to that what has been authorised and included in the Summary of Product Characteristics. Inspectors may also check the presence and quality of information in the Safety Data Sheets, where it is required for biocidal products.

Both REF-13 and BEF-3 projects will be prepared in 2024, inspections are planned for 2025 and reports are expected to be published in 2026.

During the meeting, the Forum members elected a new chair and vice chair. Henrik Hedlund (SE) will start as the Forum chair and Katja vom Hofe (DE) and Maria Orphanou (CY) will be the vice chairs as of 21 June 2023. Its biocides subgroup elected Helmut de Vos (BE) as chair and Jenny Karlsson (SE) and Eugen Anwander (AT) as vice chairs.

• The A+A Expert Talks head into their third round

On 20 June 2023 between 10.00 am and 11.30 am experts from the fields of sustainability, circular economy, environmental protection as well as corporate fashion and product management will be presenting lectures and discussing the topics of sustainability in supply chains, standardisation and quality seals as well as the associated challenges and solutions in cooperation with German Fashion. They will thereby provide a platform for the exchange of knowledge, experience and innovative approaches.

The focus on sustainability and the circular economy reflects the growing relevance of these topics in the world of work. More and more companies recognise the need to make their business practices more sustainable and optimise the use of resources.

This Expert Talk will be presented by Irina Olm, In-House Lawyer & Counsel of GermanFashion Modeverband Deutschland e.V. and Expert for Circular Economy and CSR, who will contribute her know-how on the European level.  

Benjamin Helfritz, Head of Quality in Digital and Green Transformation, DIN – German Institute for Standardisation, will introduce participants to the new standards for the Green Transition.  
The Digital Product Passport (DPP) is needed for both the green and digital transition. However, it will only achieve its full added value if interoperability is ensured between existing and emerging systems. The use of the DPP promotes more sustainability and digital progress.

Henk Vanhoutte, Secretary General, European Safety Federation (ESF) and Lucia Mendori, Regulatory Affairs Associate / Chair ESF Working Group Sustainability will present practical examples and concrete application factors for sustainable PPE as well as solutions for sustainable jobwear. They will provide an overview of survey results from their members regarding various sustainability aspects – pointing to how the industry is treating this important topic but also flagging up the limits to the sustainability of PPE.

Lena Bay Høyland, Product Director of the Swedish workwear manufacturer Fristads Kansas will share the sustainability strategy of her company which has committed to minimise its environmental impact by targets and effective measures. The progress made by Fristads Kansas was measured using concrete figures and audits. This is a use case highlighting the innovations and challenges associated with sustainable jobwear.

By organising the Expert Talks the leading international trade fair A+A jointly with its strategic partners from the German Federal Association for Occupational Safety and Health (Basi), Fraunhofer IPA, German Fashion (Modeverband Deutschland e.V.), DGUV (Germany Statutory Accident Insurance), BAuA (Federal Agency for Occupational Safety and Health), BMAS (Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs), IVPS Interessenverbund Persönliche Schutzausrüstung e.V. (PPE Stakeholder Association) as well as IFA (Institute for Occupational Safety) will provide its community with a networking and information platform.