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.   

Sappi will be presenting its inkjet papers for large-format applications alongside its new Fusion Nature Plus containerboard and a variety of silicone-based papers at the FESPA Global Print Expo from 12-15 October 2021 in Amsterdam.

The new Transjet Tacky Industrial is a coated sublimation paper for digital transfer printing – specially developed for high-speed inkjet printing on highly elastic textiles. Also new in the portfolio is the Basejet uncoated sublimation paper, designed for the digital printing of fashion and home textiles, especially light-coloured designs.
Papers consist of 100% recyclable pulp and are FSC-certified.

In Amsterdam, Sappi will also be demonstrating its inkjet papers for large-format applications. Scrolljet is suitable for outdoor applications including City Light and Mega Light systems. It stands out thanks its enhanced whiteness, high colour density and good line sharpness, alongside tear resistance and UV print protection. For indoor graphics and posters, Swiss Matt reveals its unique advantages of accuracy and pin-sharp lines.

Sappi's new Fusion Nature Plus is all about corrugated packaging, POS displays, shelf-ready packaging and carrier bags.

The products from the Silicone Base Papers range – for self-adhesive applications such as car wrapping, outdoor advertising and office materials – complete this year’s Sappi FESPA Global Print Expo portfolio.

It is exactly 100 years ago on August 17th this year that Carl Axel Gustafsson returned from the USA to Sweden with a significant agency agreement from the Boston-based sewing machine leader Reece.

Back in 1921, Reece, along with its competitor Singer, entirely dominated the buttonhole machine market and were the world’s only manufacturers of these machines for jackets, trousers and coats.

Gustafsson’s license enabled his new company A C Gustafsson to become one of Europe’s first leasing organisations, hiring out Reece buttonhole machines and receiving payment per sewn buttonhole stitch.

This business thrived for many decades and formed the basis for the entire ACG Group as it exists today.

Forty years later, on September 2nd 1961 to be precise, Reimar Westerlind walked out of a restaurant after a long and enjoyable lunch with someone he’d never met before, having signed his intention to buy a company he knew nothing about on an improvised contract written on the back of a menu.

“What I didn’t know then was that my dining partner was the family lawyer of Carl Axel Gustafsson,” Reimar explains. “I had no money and knew nothing about the textile industry and I also quickly discovered the business was not doing so well at that time and tried to get out of the agreement, but he insisted I honour it. He told me he had money and would back me, but I’d have to work hard and pay him back in full.”

Reimar certainly took that advice, and at the age of 92 still travels to his office every day to oversee the operations of the diverse companies now operating under the ACG umbrella.

Although textiles remain the bedrock of the business, under Reimar Westerlind’s management, ACG Group has branched out into many other fields of activity over the past 60 years, and its diversity has also led to some highly unexpected developments.

Like many other European manufacturers, ACG also began to expand beyond its traditional borders from the 1970s onwards – initially into the former Soviet Union and subsequently establishing subsidiaries in Estonia, Lithuania, Finland, the Ukraine and Denmark.

Michael Lüthi, a member of the founding family, will become the CEO of the SANITIZED company group on August 1, 2021. He will take over the position from Urs Stalder, who will join the administrative board after working for the company for over 30 years.

Longtime CEO Urs Stalder consistently promoted the brand Sanitized®. Furthermore, he managed to internationalize the company, establish subsidiaries in the U.S., China and India, and focus on innovative products.

The 38-year-old business economist Michael Lüthi has been working for SANITIZED since 2018. He previously worked as COO of Senevita, a company that at the time had roughly 30 residences, and he supervised residential complexes for seniors with roughly 2,500 employees. Over the past three years, Michael Lüthi was already a member of SANITZED’s management team and helped to shape the course of the company.

“We will continue to combine tradition and innovation: SANITIZED is a fourth-generation Swiss family company, and we will continue to expand our leadership position in the world with our safe and innovative products and services for the textile, polymer, and paint industries,” explains the new SANITIZED CEO Michael Lüthi. American company Consolidated Pathways was recently acquired with this objective in mind. SANITIZED now has a presence with its own subsidiaries in the U.S., China, the European Union, and India.

SUPREME GREEN COTTON®, the water-saving smart-tech yarn by Varvaressos has been chosen by Diesel, Champ Blanc and Muntagnard, and won the Gold Award at the Greek Exports Forum & Awards 2020.

Thanks to a pioneering satellite-powered drip irrigation system, SUPREME GREEN COTTON® saves up to 40% of water. The range of yarns is entirely Made in Europe and comes with influential sustainable verifications. The MADE IN GREEN by OEKO-TEX® label guarantees that the yarns have been tested for harmful substances and manufactured using sustainable processes under socially responsible working conditions in accordance with STeP by OEKO-TEX®. Complete transparency and traceability are guaranteed throughout the whole production and supply chain by the unique diafania SI platform, powered via blockchain technology.

Global clothing and lifestyle Italian premium jeans brand Diesel stands out for its unique mindset and sustainable imprint. That’s why it chose SUPREME GREEN COTTON® for its collection ‘Green Label’ and ‘NightCrush’ as well as its ‘Malign’ jersey T-shirts, available in two different colours and prints.

Thee Swiss brand Muntagnard believes in «sustainability» as a powerful lever for innovative solutions for people who go their own way and think outside the box to advance sustainable development. Muntagnard rethinks textiles - from the sewing thread to the label – selecting only sustainable materials and minimizing the use of plastic to the bone while seeking sensible, biodegradable textile alternatives. The MANGOLA collection of T-sets is 100% made of SUPREME GREEN COTTON®.

CHAMP BLANC is a responsible French brand renown for its ready-to-wear men clothing and for its strong commitment to traceability. The brand has been working for nearly 8 months on the design of the "Traceable T-shirt" made of 100% SUPREME GREEN COTTON®. The result is a high quality and finishing t-shirt to make it last. By relying on existing technologies, the entire production chain is traceable and can be discover thanks a QR-code on the label.

SUPREME GREEN COTTON® has also been bestowed with the influential Gold Award in the “Top Branded Export Product” category of the Greek Exports Forum & Awards 2020

Live panels, future talks, brand experiences, stories, entertainment: from July 5th to 9th, the protagonists of the fashion industry will meet digitally for the first time on a common platform, the FFW STUDIO. Launched by the makers of Frankfurt Fashion Week and Europe's largest fashion fairs, PREMIUM, SEEK & Neonyt, the new content hub at www.frankfurt.fashion offers an individually designed program as an alternative to the physical event.

And the classic trade fair business will also find a digital representation this summer: Together with long-term partner JOOR, Anita Tillmann and team are presenting the PREMIUM + SEEK Passport platform this season. Here retailers can discover and order the collections of over 12,500 brands online and be inspired by various content formats.

FFW STUDIO broadcasts live from the conferences of Frankfurt Fashion Week, the Frankfurt Fashion SDG Summit presented by Conscious Fashion Campaign in cooperation with the United Nations Office for Partnerships and the conference "The New European Bauhaus - Workshop of the Future", organized by the Fashion Council Germany in cooperation with the Frankfurt Fashion Week. Both will take place for the first time as part of the Frankfurt Fashion Week. With over 130 speakers, the Fashionsustain conference is also a central component of the FFW STUDIOS.

• A coalition of 13 European business associations, representing different European sectors calls for the swift ratification of the EU-Mercosur association agreement.
• With the political agreement reached already 2 years ago (June 2019), now is the time to move forward and unlock the manifold mutual benefits that this agreement will deliver.

The EU-MERCOSUR agreement is the largest and most ambitious trade agreement ever negotiated by both sides, provides regulatory certainty for both trade in goods and services, and establishes better trade links between countries of respectively 440 and 260 million citizens. It also includes the most advanced sustainable development provisions that will foster partnership, help mitigate climate change and bind both sides to effectively implement the Paris Agreement. Moreover, it includes enforceable commitments on workers' rights and environmental protection through a dedicated dispute settlement mechanism.

Failure to ratify the agreement would leave the EU and Mercosur with fewer instruments to build mutual trust and cooperate to face the biggest challenge of our time. Moreover, non-ratification will lead to Mercosur countries continuing to trade, or even expanding their trade, with other trading partners that have substantially lower environmental and labour standards. Please find attached the full joint statement.

The European textile and apparel industry welcomes the organisation of the EU-US Summit in Brussels, and hopes that political leaders will launch a new era of closer cooperation across the Atlantic. Both the Covid19 pandemic and recent geopolitical tensions call for global solutions; the EU and the US should take a leadership role in developing that new global framework.

EU-US trade in textiles and apparel have dropped by nearly 20% in 2020 (just under €6 bln), while imports from other countries, in particular China, have increased spectacularly (+45% into the EU). At the same time, global supply chains came under pressure, and access to certain raw materials for the industry became difficult and costly.

Against this background, EURATEX does not call for protectionism, but a better functioning of global supply chains, with common rules which are applied by all. The EU and US authorities should put their full influence to establish a level playing field for our industry across the globe, promoting environmental and social standards. Sustainable and circular textiles should become the norm, thus contributing to a greener planet and creating high quality jobs.  

At bilateral level, the EU and US should resume their work on mutual recognition of standards and certification procedures, thus saving considerable costs for our companies while maintaining the highest safety standards. Custom procedures can be simplified on both sides, and joint research, e.g. in smart textiles, should be promoted.

EURATEX welcomes the recent progress in provisionally eliminating additional duties on several American and European products due to the Airbus-Boeing trade dispute. It is a very positive sign that EURATEX would like to highlight in a particularly difficult context for the textile and clothing industry at European, American and even global levels. EURATEX calls on both US and EU institutions to eliminate such duties permanently and build on a common positive agenda for the benefit of EU and US companies and consumers.

EURATEX Director General Dirk Vantyghem commented: "Both the EU and US are developing a new business model for their industry. We should make sure these models can complement and reinforce each other. If not, we risk losing global leadership, not just in terms of market share but also in terms of values and standards."

On the occasion of releasing its 2021 Spring Report, EURATEX calls the European Institutions to implement a new Industrial Strategy which will effectively support the European textiles industry. EURATEX welcomes the fact that Textile and Clothing industry is recognised as one of the 14 essential ecosystems of the European economy, but we need to take effective measures to support these sectors, and take into consideration the global dimension.

Economic data for 2020 in EURATEX Spring Report show preoccupying trends. Figures reflect a dramatic contraction in demand and production: EU turnover contracted by -9.3% in textiles (which is in line with the general manufacturing average) and by -17.7% in clothing, compared with 2019. Furthermore, supply chain disruptions and substantial price increases of some raw materials are putting significant pressure on the T&C industries across Europe. The trade deficit for European textiles and clothing jumped from € -47 bln in 2019 to € -62 bln in 2020, an increase of more than 30%, which is almost entirely due to the import of Chinese face masks and related products. Fortunately, more recent figures from the 1st quarter of 2021 indicate some signs of recovery.

That figure illustrates very well today’s political discussions on the future of the European industry. Many European companies have made considerable efforts to adapt their production to the pandemic, but clearly this was not enough. Whether the production cost in Europe is too high or the EU should adapt its procurement rules, the industry needs have a coherent long-term plan to become more competitive and conquer new markets.

EURATEX General Assembly highlighted the critical role of the new EU Industrial Strategy. The inclusion of textiles and clothing in the fourteen ecosystems is a step in the right direction to consolidate the industrial base but we should look also at the global challenges. European companies should continue investing in innovation, design and quality, in combination with a structural move towards more sustainable textiles. At the same time, the EU should create an environment - both inside the Single Market and globally - where everybody plays by the same rules.

Sappi offers Transjet Tacky Industrial, a coated dye sublimation paper for digital transfer printing, specially developed for high-speed inkjet printing on highly elastic textiles. Also new is the uncoated dye sublimation paper Basejet, which has been developed for light designs for high-speed digital printing of fashion and home textiles.

• Transjet Tacky Industrial: Immediate tack effect, high ink transfer, fast ink drying; no ghosting on elastic textiles thanks to reversible tack
• Basejet: Consistent print quality for light designs, fast ink-drying, very fast transfer process

Transjet Tacky Industrial enables highly elastic fabrics to be printed on industrial high-speed machines that work with a higher glycol content, such as printheads from Kyocera. The paper is first printed with the desired image or pattern which is then transferred to the elastic polyester fabric by means of heat and pressure.

Sublimation paper for the textile industry
The new dye sublimation paper offers many benefits for the textile industry, which frequently has to adapt to changing trends. As it is suitable for use on high-speed digital printers, significantly more designs can be printed in the same time than was previously possible on plotters. Thanks to a special heat-reactive coating, the paper adheres to highly stretchable content, while the reversible tack prevents ghosting and textile shrinkage. Transjet Tacky
Industrial has a high ink load capacity so the print can be better accentuated due to strong colour saturation. The design remains clearly visible when the fabric is stretched to its maximum, which is often the case with sportswear in particular.

Basejet specially for light designs
Sappi has also added the Basejet uncoated dye sublimation paper to its portfolio, an additional solution for the digital printing of fashion and home textiles in consistent print quality. The uncoated dye sublimation paper is intended in particular for light designs and cost-driven production processes.