From the Sector

For the third time, nova-Institute awards the “Cellulose Fibre Innovation of the Year” award in the frame of the “Cellulose Fibres Conference 2023” (8-9 March 2023). The conference advisory board nominated six remarkable products, including cellulose fibres from textile waste, banana production waste and bacterial pulp, a novel technology for producing lyocell yarns and a hygiene product. The innovations will be put to the vote of the conference audience on the first day of the event, with the awards ceremony taking place in the evening. The innovation award “Cellulose Fibre Innovation of the Year 2023” is sponsored by GIG Karasek (AT).

Here are the six nominees
Vybrana – The new generation banana fibre – GenCrest Bioproducts (India)
Vybrana is a Gencrest’s Sustainable Cellulosic Fibre upcycled from agrowaste. Raw fibres are extracted from the Banana Pseudo stem at the end of the plant lifecycle. The biomass waste is then treated by the Gencrest patented Fiberzyme technology. Here, cocktail enzyme formulations remove the high lignin content and other impurities and help fibre fibrillation. The company's proprietary cottonisation process provides fine, spinnable cellulose staple fibres suitable for blending with other staple fibres and can be spun on any conventional spinning systems giving yarns sustainable apparel. Vybrana is produced without the use of heavy chemicals and minimized water consumption and in a waste-free process where balance biomass is converted to bio stimulants Agrosatva and Bio Fertilizers & organic manure.

HeiQ AeoniQ™ – technology for more sustainability of textiles – HeiQ (Austria)
HeiQ AeoniQ™ is the disruptive technology and key initiative from HeiQ with the potential to change the sustainability of textiles. It is the first climate-positive continuous cellulose filament yarn, made in a proprietary manufacturing process and the first to reproduce the properties of polyester and nylon yarns in a cellulosic, biodegradable, and endlessly recyclable fibre.
HeiQ AeoniQ™ can be manufactured from different cellulosic raw materials such as pre- and post-consumer textile waste, biotech cellulose, and non-valorized agricultural waste, such as ground coffee waste or banana peels. It naturally degrades after only 12 weeks in the soil. Each ton of HeiQ AeoniQ™ saves 5 tons of CO2 emissions. The first garments made with this innovative cellulosic filament fiber were commercially launched in January 2023.

TENCEL™ LUXE – lyocell filament yarn – Lenzing (Austria)
TENCEL™ LUXE is LENZING’s new versatile lyocell yarn that offers an urgently needed sustainable filament solution for the textile and fashion industry. A possible botanical alternative for silk, long-staple cotton, and petrol-based synthetic filaments, is derived from wood grown in renewable, sustainably managed forests, and produced in an environmentally sound, closed-loop process that recycles water and reuses more than 99 % of organic solvent. Certified by The Vegan Society, it is suitable for a wide range of applications and fabric developments, from finer high fashion propositions to denim constructions, seamless and activewear innovations, and even agricultural and technical solutions.

Nullarbor™ – Nanollose & Birla Cellulose (Australia/India)
In 2020, Nanollose & Birla Cellulose started a journey to develop and commercialize tree-free lyocell from bacterial cellulose, called Nullarbor™. The name derives from the Latin “nulla arbor” which means “no trees”. Initial lab research at both ends led to a joint patent application with the patent “production of high-tenacity lyocell fibres made from bacterial cellulose”.
Nullarbor is significantly stronger than lyocell made from wood-based pulp; even adding small amounts of bacterial cellulose to wood pulp increases the fibre toughness. In 2022, the first pilot batch of 260kg was produced with 20 % bacterial pulp share. Several high-quality fabrics and garments were produced with this fibre. The collaboration between Nanollose & Birla Cellulose now focuses on increasing the production scale and amount of bacterial pulp in the fibre.

Circulose® – makes fashion circular – Renewcell (Sweden)
Circulose® made by Renewcell is a branded dissolving pulp made from 100 % textile waste, like worn-out clothes and production scraps. It provides a unique material for fashion that is 100 % recycled, recyclable, biodegradable, and of virgin-equivalent quality. It is used by fibre producers to make staple fibre or filaments like viscose, lyocell, modal, acetate or other types of man-made cellulosic fibres. In 2022, Renewcell, opened the world’s first textile-to-textile chemical recycling plant in Sundsvall, Sweden – Renewcell 1. The plant will eventually reach 120,000 tons of annual capacity.

Sparkle sustainable sanitary pads – Sparkle Innovations (United States)
Globally, around 300 billion period products are discarded every year, resulting in millions of tons of non-biodegradable waste. Since most conventional sanitary pads contain up to 90 % plastics, they do not biodegrade for around 600 years. Sparkle has designed sustainable, plastic-free, biodegradable and compostable Sparkle sanitary pads. From product to packaging, they are made up of around 90 % cellulose-based materials with top sheet, absorbent core, release paper, wrapping paper and packaging made of cellulose-based fibres. Whether Sparkle pads end up in a compost pit, are incinerated or end up in a landfill, they are a more sustainable alternative compared to conventional pads that contain large amounts of plastics, complex petro-chemical based ingredients and artificial fragrances. When tested according to ISO 14855-1 by a leading independent lab in Europe, Sparkle pads reached over 90 % absolute biodegradation within 90 days in commercial composting conditions.

Art meets sustainable fashion in the third edition of the project "CirculART", the initiative that sees companies, artists and fashion designers working together with Cittadellarte - Fondazione Pistoletto, showing how new balanced forms of production, design and sharing can be explored through a careful choice of materials and of sustainable supply chains. Three key concepts underpin the circularity of sustainable fashion and therefore this project: Reduce - reducing the consumption of raw materials, Reuse - reuse of raw materials, Recycling - regeneration.

The project CirculART is conceived and developed in collaboration between Fashion B.E.S.T. and UNIDEE Residency Programs, and led by the Foundation's team of curators.

Fashion B.E.S.T. - Better Ethical Sustainable Think-Tank, Cittadellarte - Fondazione Pistoletto’ sustainable fashion office, was created by artist Michelangelo Pistoletto and Franca Sozzani. Since 2009, B.E.S.T. has been working on the development of sustainability in the textile sector, to lead to a contamination between art, which assumes social responsibility, and the world of fashion, which is looking to define a new ethical and sustainable model.

CirculART proposes a new link between fashion and art, engaging both in a conscious and innovative combination of sustainability, sensitivity, beauty and union. The project links territory and production factories, bringing together actors from the different sectors making up the textile supply chain that work on the basis of a circular economy with companies that have chosen to embrace the ideal of sustainability and develop an innovative business model.

The protagonists of this year’s edition are two international artists and two international fashion designers, selected through an open call launched by Cittadellarte: Augustina Bottoni, Lucia Chain, Huge Sillytoe and Rebecca Sforzani, young talents called upon to create a work with fabrics produced by partner companies, focusing on dialogue and on the enhancement of the textile industry production chain.

In early 2023, the programme will give the four selected artists the opportunity to visit and work actively with the partner companies that have joined the initiative.
These are: Achille Pinto S.p.a, manufacturer of textiles and textile accessories for the main international fashion brands; Albini Group, Europe's largest manufacturer of cotton fabrics for shirts; Erica Industria Tessile, a leading company in the creation of textile prints, original and customised designs; Filatura Astro, eco-sustainable regenerated yarns; G2B S.r.l., a chemical and environmental analysis laboratory working with vertical cultivation from which indigo is obtained; Lampo by Ditta Giovanni Lanfranchi S.p.A., leader in the creation and production of zips for fashion; Lanificio Fratelli Cerruti, a Biella-based weaver for haute couture; Lenzing, world leader in the production of fabrics made from fibres derived from renewable wood raw material; Milior, a producer of high quality fabrics; Officina +39 – Chemistry plus creativity, a chemical company with thirty years' experience dedicated to research and chemical application in textiles; Tessuti di Sondrio, a factory inspired by the century-old local textile tradition of processing cotton, linen, hemp and wool; Tintoria Emiliana, garment-dyed production and sustainable practices; Zegna Baruffa Lane Borgosesia, a manufacturer of 100% Made in Italy fine combed and carded yarns.

ECHA has added nine chemicals to the Candidate List because of their hazardous properties. They are used for example in flame retardants, paints and coatings, inks and toners, coating products, plasticisers and in the manufacture of textile, leather or fur and paper.

Entries added to the Candidate List on 17 January 2023:

• 1,1'-[ethane-1,2-diylbisoxy]bis[2,4,6-tribromobenzene]
• 2,2',6,6'-tetrabromo-4,4'-isopropylidenediphenol
• 4,4'-sulphonyldiphenol
• Barium diboron tetraoxide
• Bis(2-ethylhexyl) tetrabromophthalate covering any of the individual isomers and/or combinations thereof
• Isobutyl 4-hydroxybenzoate
• Melamine
• Perfluoroheptanoic acid and its salts
• reaction mass of 2,2,3,3,5,5,6,6-octafluoro-4-(1,1,1,2,3,3,3-heptafluoropropan-2-yl)morpholine and 2,2,3,3,5,5,6,6-octafluoro-4-(heptafluoropropyl)morpholine

Information on these substances' uses and reasons for inclusion on the Candidate List is available here.

The international fashion sourcing platform Source Fashion, taking place from 12th – 14th February at Olympia London, has announced a compelling line-up of country pavilions and over 150 audited, quality manufacturers from around the world including Peru, India, China, Pakistan, Italy, Spain, Greece, North Macedonia,  the UAE, Madagascar, Jordan, Uzbekistan, Turkey, the UK and many more who will join the inaugural show, which runs parallel to Pure London.

Bringing a textile pavilion to the UK for the first time, the Peru Pavilion will showcase six manufacturers specialising in high-quality alpaca wool from the raw material right through to garment production, as well as cotton and other natural mixtures.

The main Indian Pavilion at this year’s Source Fashion, in collaboration with the Wool and Woollens Export Promotion Council, will showcase 20 established garment and textile exporters specialising in wool, woollen and acrylic fibres. The exhibitors will be showing full garments including men’s, women’s and kidswear as well as a selection of fabrics and raw materials. These exhibitors are regular export partners to the UK retail industry and already work with some big retailers in white label production.

The China Pavilion will present a selection of high-quality Chinese manufacturers ranging from full garment manufacturing through to raw materials, fabrics, cashmere and components.

Other producers and manufacturers attending Source Fashion from across Europe and the UK include:

• Mivania - an Italian knitwear manufacturer producing garments in 100% cashmere and cashmere blends.
• SATCoL (Salvation Army Trading Company) - a charity-owned textiles collector in the UK, actively working with retailers to reduce their carbon footprints.
• Kusilas - a Spanish company monitoring all the stages of the production process.
• Prime Casual - based in Leicester, UK, they specialise in the design and manufacture of ladies clothing from fast fashion, wholesale to bespoke tailoring.
• Athos Pallas - a fashion and textile agency located in Thessaloniki, Greece.

• Business situation has worsened markedly but not expectations.

The 17th ITMF Global Textile Industry Survey (GTIS, formerly known as ITMF Corona-Survey) shows that on average the business situation in the global textile industry has deteriorated further in November 2022. At the same time, global business expectations in six months’ time remained in negative territory but did not get gloomier. The indicators for order intake, order backlog, and capacity utilisation rate dropped, globally.

According to the survey, the business situation in the three Asian regions and Europe remained especially poor. In North & Central America the business situation has improved again markedly. Except for the textile machinery segment that still benefits on average from a long order backlog, all other segments found themselves in negative business situations, especially fibre producers and spinners. Global business expectations have remained negative but “stabilized” around -10 percentage points (pp) since July 2022. Expectations have improved significantly in South Asia to +10pp, and Europe to -30pp. Business expectations in all segments remain negative territory with four out of seven recording improvements.

Order intake nose-dived in November, in line with weaker business situation and weaker demand, currently the biggest concern for the global textile value chain. Only companies in North & Central America registered on average a good order intake, while all other regions were faced with an unsatisfactory order situation. Except for South-East Asia and North & Central America order backlog fell. The only segments where order backlog increased were the down-stream segments garments and home textiles. Capacity utilization rate dropped in all regions in November 2022. It only increased in the textile machinery segment but fell otherwise.

“Weakening demand” is by far the biggest concern in the global textile industry, followed by the root causes of demand reduction, namely high energy and raw material prices which lead to high inflation rates. Good news is that logistical costs are not much of a concern anymore. Concerns about geopolitics on the other hand have increased again in the past two months.

ITM - International Textile Machinery Exhibition, which is one of the world's most important exhibitions in its field and carries its success beyond its borders, will be held in a country other than Turkey for the first time next year under the name 'ITM Uzbekistan'. 'ITM Uzbekistan 2023 Exhibition', which will be held in Uzbekistan New Expo Center on September 12-15, 2023, will bring together buyers from Central Asia and Turkic Republics with the world's most important textile and garment technology manufacturers.

ITM Uzbekistan to be organized in odd years
'ITM Uzbekistan', organised by Teknik Fairs Inc. and Tüyap Tüm Fuarcılık Yapım Inc., will be first held in September 2023, from 12th to 15th, and thenorganized in the following odd years such as 2025, 2027, and so on. The exhibition calendar was created by taking into account the dates of the exhibitions organized in the same sector in different countries of the world and in Europe and the benefits of the sector.

Tashkent New Expo Center
New Expo Center, built in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, will host the most important events of both Central Asia and Turkic Republics. New Expo Center, where many national and international events will be held, will be the gateway of Central Asia to the world. The exhibition center, consisting of a total area of 44 thousand square meters and two stages, was built with the latest technology, taking into account all needs. The new exhibition center, which includes cafes/restaurants, resting areas, meeting, congress, seminar and exhibition halls, is an important attraction center with its proximity to the new airport under construction in the capital and the facilities where the international Olympic Games will be held.

On Monday, December 19 2022, the European energy ministers reached an agreement on a price cap for natural gas wholesale prices.

Despite welcoming the adoption of the instrument and the prospect to limit gas price speculations on the stock market, EURATEX considers the cap at 180 €/MWh to be still too high. Also, the complexity of the conditionalities triggering the cap may weaken its effectiveness and implementation: according to the legal proposal, the price level must be reached for three working days and European wholesale gas prices must remain, for the same length of time, at €35 above the global price of liquefied natural gas. Therefore, EURATEX urges the Council of the EU to improve this market correction mechanism.

Furthermore, EURATEX insists on the need to provide the industry with support measures to counteract competition from the US and other countries. Dirk Vantyghem, Director General of EURATEX, affirms: “The Industry is at the heart of the European way of life and the fundament of our social market economy. The European textile industry is 99.8% composed of SMEs, which struggle with tight margins while being at the upstream part of the supply chain: the EU must do more to save its industrial structure, its competitiveness and its capacity to provide essential products to European citizens”.

Carbios published its first Sustainability Report using 2021 as the baseline year. The report outlines Carbios’ commitment to developing environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives that go beyond the industrial development of its innovative plastics biorecycling technologies. Although not subject to the regulatory requirement of the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD), Carbios has nonetheless structured its report in accordance with the requirements of the European directive on Extra-Financial Performance Statements.

Carbios’ sustainability strategy is based on three pillars (governance and ethics, the environment, social and societal issues) divided into 22 priority material challenges. Carbios’ Sustainability Report reflects the company’s dedication to transparency in action and highlights its efforts in areas such as environmental sustainability; employee relations, diversity and inclusion; and corporate governance.

Within its 2021 Sustainability Report, Carbios has formalized several targets including:

ENVIRONMENTAL OBJECTIVES

• Use the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method to maximize circularity and aim for the lowest carbon impact
• Commit to depolymerizing 60 tons of PET in 2023 at the Demonstration Plant in Clermont-Ferrand: the equivalent of about 3.2 million plastic bottles or 4 million food trays

SOCIAL OBJECTIVES

• Contribute to local economic development in France: the world’s first industrial-scale enzymatic PET recycling plant in Longlaville will create 150 direct and indirect jobs
• In a context of strong growth, promote employee well-being and safety by developing training, and ensuring the management and prevention of psycho-social risks
• Strengthen commitment to supporting international research through academic partnerships and scientific publications

GOVERNANCE OBJECTIVES

• Achieve 40% female members of the Board of Directors by end 2023, and 40% on Executive Committee by end 2024
• Achieve 60% independent members of the Board of Directors by end 2024
• Structure CSR governance with the creation of a CSR committee and integrate sustainability objectives into Executive’s compensation starting fiscal year 2023

The European textiles and clothing sector is set for a major transformation which will affect both industry and workers. The EU’s strategy for sustainable and circular textiles aims to ensure that by 2030, textile products placed on the EU market are long-lived and recyclable with the industry moving from a linear to a circular business model. This strategy is accompanied with the EU’s transition pathway for a more resilient, sustainable, and digital textiles ecosystem linking the green transition with the digital transition while stressing the need for the sector to remain competitive.

IndustriAll European Trade Union (industriAll Europe) and Euratex, representing the workers and employers in the textiles and clothing sectors respectfully, jointly highlight both the challenges and opportunities of the giant forthcoming transformation of the sector and call for action to ensure that European industrial policy is fit for purpose and enables the sector to transform without negatively impacting workers or European industry.

Specifically, the European social partners jointly call for:

1. EU action to guarantee that the European textiles ecosystem remains competitive, including ensuring a level global playing field.
2. Measures to increase the demand of sustainable products including awareness raising campaigns, incentives such as lower VAT rates, and sustainability criteria in public procurement.
3. Measures to ensure access to green and affordable energy.
4. Policy gaps to be addressed, such as promoting a harmonised Extended Producer Responsibility approach across the EU and ensuring that SMEs can use Product Environmental Footprints.
5. Action to ensure that the Sustainable Products Regulation and the forthcoming Digital Product Passport will offer a transparent, predictable and SME-friendly framework.
6. Investment in attracting, training and reskilling workers including via concrete support for the EU Pact for Skills.
7. Appropriate funding, sound metrics and legal incentives at regional, national, and European level to support the green and digital transitions of the textile and clothing sectors.
8. Regional and national authorities to coordinate with sectoral social partners to ensure that the green and digital transitions are fair and just and do not leave the industry, regions or workers behind.

From February 8th to 11th, 2023, the third edition of IFCO, Istanbul Fashion Connection will take place in the Istanbul Exhibition Center.

The fair with over 600 exhibitors in 9 halls gives an overview of the new collections in the areas of womenswear, menswear, kidswear, denim, shoes, leather & furs. Separate platforms at IFCO are LinExpo for lingerie and hosiery and FashionIST with a wide range of wedding dresses, evening wear and suits. IFCO Sourcing, a new area at IFCO, offers the opportunity to find numerous companies for sourcing capacities.

Also new is the partnership with Igedo Exhibitions, Düsseldorf, which is responsible for the EUROPEAN SELECTION area at IFCO. International fashion labels present themselves at the fair as part of this participation.

More than 25,000 visitors from over 100 nations from all sales channels, from department stores and boutiques to online platforms from Eastern Europe, the Central Asian markets and the Arabian Gulf region, alongside buyers from Türkiye are expected at the show.

The declared goal of the organizers is to offer a "one-stop shopping solution" with IFCO that shows the creativity of the Turkish fashion scene, enables access to new sales markets and at the same time establishes the connection to potential production partners for supply chain optimization. The competitive advantages of production in Türkiye are evident:
short delivery times, high production quality, young and well-trained employees, the possibility of small minimum order quantities, a vertical textile and clothing industry that allows "one-stop shopping".

The manufacturing sector is an important sector for the industry, with over 80% of companies in Türkiye engaged in this sector. Türkiye has the fastest economic growth among the G20 after Saudi Arabia at 7.6% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2022, according to the Turkish Statistics Authority. Export is one of the most important pillars of growth.

The trade fair concept is being supported by the government with several programs. These include the cooperation with IMA, Istanbul ModaAkademisi, which regularly produces design talents becoming an integral part of the international fashion scene. IMA was founded in 2007 by ITKIB / IHKIB with the help of the IPA I program ((IPA: Instrument for Pre Accession Funds, provided by the EU for the EU candidate countries). Young design talents are brought to the stage at IFCO in cooperation with the ‘’Koza Young Fashion Designers Contest’’.