From the Sector

The REACH4texiles project just kicked off. Funded by the European Commission, it aims at exploring solutions for fair and effective market surveillance on textile products.

Every year, about 28 billion of garments circulate across Europe, 80% of which are imported from outside the EU and its jurisdiction.
 
Inevitably, such huge volumes pose enormous challenges for market surveillance authorities which are called to ensure that uncompliant dangerous products are kept away from the EU citizens.

The European Union has the world most comprehensive chemical legislation which is set to protect consumers, the environment and, theoretically, even the competitiveness  of the business.

Such EU chemical legislation evolves constantly, increasing scope and ambition. New restrictions impact authorities and sectors like the European textile value chain and generate new costs for all actors.

Evidence suggests that such advanced regulatory framework is not completed with an equally advanced or effective EU-wide control system capable of ensuring compliance, especially in the case of imported products.

The REACH4texiles project aims at exploring solutions for fair and effective market surveillance on textile products; it pools together the key actors to address three objectives:

• Keep non-compliant products away from the single market.
• Increase skills and knowledge.
• Support a Network addressing chemicals in textiles and applying the EU regulation 2019/1020

The 2 years project will share best practices, identify efficient approaches against non-compliant products, offer training and support for a more effective surveillance and for level playing field.

The project welcomes collaboration with concerned authorities across the EU Member States.

Details:

A well-functioning EU market surveillance system is an essential prerequisite to protect citizen, the environment and competitiveness of responsible business. When it comes to textiles, the broad range of products, the large set of REACH subjected chemicals used in textiles as well as industrial strategies like fast fashion make this a challenging task.

Challenges may include lack of resources, difficulties in identifying higher risk products, cost and management of chemical tests, lack of test methods and knowledge of best practices. These challenges are yet likely to increase with the upcoming REACH restrictions and the growth of e-commerce.

Because of this, products that do not comply with REACH regulations encounter today little or no barriers to enter the market. This creates not only a health risk for Europeans but also undermines the competitivity of responsible businesses that take all necessary measures to comply with these regulations.

Addressing the challenges requires more knowledge at market surveillance and stronger collaboration between these authorities, the textile and clothing industry and testing laboratories. More knowledge about the identification of risk baring textile products and REACH chemicals likely to be used in these products, suitable test methods and strategies such as fast screening on REACH chemicals, trustworthiness of labels, etc can increase the effectiveness of market surveillance considerably.

The REACH4Textiles first objective (keep non-compliant products away from the EU Market) will be pursued by increasing knowledge on market surveillance functioning by and working on a risk-based approach to identify products at higher risk.

The second objective supports a network to address the specificities of chemicals in textiles with market surveillance authorities and involving other relevant stakeholders. The third objective focuses on sharing knowledge with market surveillance actors on textile products and suitable test methodologies.

Supported by the European Commission DG Growth, the project team is coordinated by the Belgian test and research center Centexbel and include the European Textiles and Apparel industry confederation, EURATEX, the German national textile and fashion association Textile und Mode, t+m, the Italian association Tessile e Salute. Several other European industry associations and national authorities are welcomed to become involved through the project activities.   

The Indorama Mobility Group, a manufacturer of industrial fibers, cords and fabrics, - like other companies - is confronted with significant inflation since the beginning of the year. The global economy has gradually recovered in 2021 from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, but is still experiencing very volatile market conditions: The global freight remains unreliable and expensive, cost for energy and global commodities is increasing, and the increasing focus on sustainability and environmental impact is driving compliance cost upward in most part of the world.

In detail:

• Utilities: gas price has tripled in the past few months in Europe (from a level of 15 EUR/MWh in Q4’20 to 45 EUR/MWh recently), while increasing by 50% in USA
• CO₂ emissions and compliance cost: prices for CO₂ certificates in Europe have almost doubled, approaching 60 EUR/ton from 30 EUR/ton at the end of last year, while regulations continue to expand the need for CO2 compensation
• Chemicals and additives (spinfinish, dip chemicals, coating & laminating chemicals): cost have increased by 5%
• Packaging: prices for standard packaging materials have increased by more than 30%
• Logistic: despite our local manufacturing footprint which is not fully affected by global freight issues, the regional logistic costs are also increasing up to 20% (road transport)

Despite constant efforts to optimise the cost structure through comprehensive initiatives to improve operations, cost increases have now reached a level, the group said, that can no longer be offset and must be passed on to the market. This is a necessary step to be able to continue supplying high-quality products and services of the broad product portfolio, it said.

The Italian company Officina+39 will be at Bluezone’s KEYHOUSE area to present its latest sustainable achievements in the field of research and chemical application for the textile sector as well as The Circle Book 2, a special project with circularity as main focus.  
 
For the first time since Covid-19 pandemic hit the world, Munich Fabric Start returns to host some of the most renowned international players in the textile and fashion industry, showcasing their latest innovations. From August 31 to September 1, Officina+39 will step into the Bluezone’s KEYHOUSE area, the interactive hub featuring futuristic solutions with a high level of innovation for the textile supply chain, to present its Better Seasons collection as well as its most recent developments.
 
The new collection embodies the company’s pillars of Trustainable approach – innovation, sustainable practices, clean information, transparency and social responsibility –, delivering a selection of bold, colorful and conscious solutions for the textile industry. These explore better ways to produce and use less through cuttingedge technologies, specifically developed to reduce the use of energy and hazardous chemicals while increasing waste recycling and water conservation.

• Call for Papers and Posters

More than 200 leading international experts in Carbon Capture and Carbon Utilisation (Power-to-X) together with 20 exhibitors are expected to attend the hybrid event on 23–24 March 2022, in Cologne, Germany

Main topics of the conference are strategy & policy in CCU, renewable energy and green hydrogen production, carbon capture technologies, CO₂-based fuels for transport and aviation, CO₂-based building blocks, bulk and fine chemicals as well as advanced CCU technologies.

Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) is one essential pillar for the supply of renewable carbon besides biomass utilisation and recycling. The transition to the direct use of CO₂ as one alternative carbon source is needed as a key element to substitute fossil sources, to fight climate change and to shift towards sustainable and climate-friendly production and consumption. For providing the full benefits of CCU technologies the use of renewable energy is indispensable.

Especially the supply of green hydrogen is crucial for the production of CO2-based fuels for transportation and aviation as well as for bulk and fine chemicals.

The “Conference on CO₂-based Fuels and Chemicals 2022”, 23–24 March 2022, Cologne, Germany. As a hybrid conference it combines a “live” in-person event with a “virtual” online component, www.co2-chemistry.eu.

• Renewably Sourced Materials to Help Replace Petrochemicals in Apparel for a Healthier Planet

lululemon athletica inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) announced a multi-year collaboration with sustainable materials leader Genomatica to bring renewably-sourced, bio-based materials into lululemon’s products. This represents lululemon’s first-ever equity investment in a sustainable materials company and Genomatica’s largest partnership within the retail industry. Together, the two companies will create a lower-impact, plant-based nylon to replace conventional nylon, which is the largest volume of synthetic material currently used to make lululemon products.

Genomatica uses biotechnology and fermentation to convert plant-based ingredients into widely used chemical building blocks, like those used to make nylon. These building blocks are converted to pellets and yarns, and the companies will be working closely with lululemon’s fabric supply chain to incorporate this material into future products. Through this collaboration, the companies seek to create positive change within the $22B global nylon market by building more sustainable supply chains.  

The 2022 edition of Cinte Techtextil China has been confirmed to take place from 6 – 8 September at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre. 2021 saw 366 exhibitors and 14,868 visits recorded at the June hybrid event, which offered in-person and digital options for suppliers and buyers.

This year’s edition of Cinte Techtextil China marked the first time the fair was held annually, and the second year physical and online participation options were available, with both aspects well received by exhibitors and visitors.

Ms Wendy Wen, Senior General Manager of Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd elaborated: “The response from our exhibitors this year was the Chinese market is still growing strongly, and having an annual edition allows them to benefit from these opportunities on a more regular basis. The domestic economy has shown strong resilience over 2020 and so far in 2021, and this has allowed the technical textiles and nonwovens sector to maintain the growth momentum it has experienced over the past years. As more economies return to normal in 2022, we expect export orders for the sector to receive a further boost which will benefit those overseas companies with business in the Chinese market.”

Cinte Techtextil China’s product categories cover 12 application areas, which comprehensively span the full range of potential uses of modern technical textiles and nonwovens. These categories also span the entire industry, from upstream technology and raw materials providers to finished fabrics, chemicals and other solutions.

• A new capsule collection colored only using plants and natural elements, signed together by Tonello and WRÅD

A capsule collection of exclusive garments was born, happy, totally natural, healthy and sustainable, free of chemicals hazardous for the environment or humans, hypoallergenic and gentle on the skin, the result of a responsible process, 100% GOTS certified organic cotton.

A collection made possible by the talents of WRÅD and Wake, the innovative organic dyeing system developed by Tonello: healthy for people and for the environment, because it uses only plants and vegetable waste, such as flowers, berries, peels and roots, which are left to dry and then infused, without using harmful chemical additives. It is easy to use, almost like preparing an herbal tea: it is, in fact, a radical paradigm shift.

The naturalness of the pigments used and the desire to create a support that would highlight the real color of emotions: these were the points that unite WRÅD and Tonello, realities that are also physically close, united by the authenticity of their evolutionary promises of change and transformation.

The colors on the garments are alive. Sensitive to light, over time they tend to fade to a lower tone, becoming increasingly sober and authentic, like those who choose to wear these manifesto-garments, which invite, quietly, and with grace and subtlety, a gentle revolution: in the name of respect for the environment and the equilibrium between people and nature.

Denim manufacturers employing Monforts technologies showcased their latest activities, including sustainable fabric manufacturing, new advances in fibres, dyes and chemicals, as well as process and supply improvements and recycling options, at Première Vision’s Digital Denim Week, held from July 5-9.

The users of Monforts equipment included AGI Denim (Pakistan), Azgard 9 (Pakistan), Berto (Italy), Bossa (Turkey), DNM (Turkey), Kilim (Turkey) and Orta (Turkey).

The new Naveena Denim Mills (Pakistan) Holistic collection, for example, employs a suite of sustainable materials such as organic cotton and post-consumer and post-industrial waste cotton that has been shredded and recycled at its in-house unit in Pakistan.

Supply chain transparency is also becoming increasingly important, and Turkey’s Bossa is now sharing information on its dyes, energy sources and recycled content use with its customers. For organic cotton in particular, Bossa provides QR codes with which brands can identify the names of individual farms and their locations, as well as details such as the origins of specific seeds and the use of irrigation by growers.

Turkey’s Orta’s new Denim Route – inspired by the historical Silk Road for trade between the East and West – is an interactive supplier map detailing the regions from which it sources cotton, dyestuff, chemicals and various fibres to complement its other transparency initiatives.

Meanwhile, a living and breathing piece of clothing that absorbs carbon dioxide while simultaneously producing oxygen was introduced at Digital Denim Week 2021 by Azgard 9 (Pakistan) .

DyStar, a specialty chemical company with a heritage of more than a century in product development and innovation, is pleased to announce their continued commitment to the protection of their global intellectual property portfolio.

As an innovative global chemical organisation, DyStar’s intellectual property portfolio is an important part of their DNA. To date, their innovation encompasses more than 1,000 patents, trademarks and patent applications worldwide.

Eric Hopmann, Chief Executive Officer of DyStar Group explains: “As DyStar continues to focus on managing challenges of the rapid global business recovery and exploring exciting growth opportunities across the emerging markets, our team needs to stay vigilant and vigorously protect our global intellectual property portfolio. This has again been demonstrated in a recent incident, where DyStar had to charge three former employees who had neglected to protect DyStar’s intellectual property, and were also under suspicion of having shared DyStar’s proprietary information with the competition.”

ISKO and textile research and development company HKRITA are proud to announce a licensing agreement for HKRITA’s award-winning, revolutionary Green Machine – a one-of-a-kind technology that fully separates and recycles cotton and polyester blends at scale.

The technology is still in the pilot stage, but is an additional step in ISKO’s drive to improve and commercialize recycling technologies which will eventually enable the company to offer a 100% post-consumer recycling solution to all of its customers. In addition, ISKO and HKRITA will work together to develop related technology, further strengthening the company’s position in sustainability.

The Green Machine uses an innovative and ultra-efficient hydrothermal treatment method that decomposes cotton into cellulose powders and enables the separation of polyester fibres from blended fabrics. The process is a closed loop and uses only water, heat and less than 5% biodegradable green chemicals. Crucially, this method does not damage the polyester fibres and therefore maintains their quality; the cellulose powders, which are clean and toxic-free, can be used in a variety of ways.

The investment in this new technology is the latest in ISKO’s ongoing drive for advancements in sustainability. As part of the company’s R-TWO™ programme, it is also working to develop fabrics with a guaranteed minimum 50%+ GRS (Global Recycle Standard) recycled content blend. This will significantly reduce the carbon and water footprint of a fabric, as well as make it easy for consumers to trace a garment’s sustainable journey step-by-step from the beginning of the supply chain through to the end product they purchase.