From the Sector

The fashion industry, which has strategic importance for the Turkish economy with its value-added production, employment, and exports, came together with representatives of global brands and Laison offices at the 'Green transformation' summit. At the meeting hosted by the Istanbul Apparel Exporters' Association (IHKIB), the studies carried out in the process of adaptation to the Green Deal were put under the spotlight, and the expectations of the Turkish fashion industry from the stakeholders were also expressed.

The opening of the meeting, attended by representatives of relevant ministries and foreign representations, national and international fund providers, as well as brands and buying groups were brought together, was made by Türkiye Exporters Assembly (TIM) and IHKIB President Mustafa Gültepe. In his speech, Gültepe underlined Türkiye's importance in the global apparel industry, by realizing approximately 3.5 percent of world apparel exports. Gültepe continued as follows:

"As IHKIB, we aim to increase our current annual exports, which are around $20 billion, to $40 billion. The road to the goal goes through Europe and America because the European Union is our largest market in apparel. We export 60 percent of our total apparel exports to EU countries. When we add other European countries and the USA, the ratio approaches 75 percent. While working on alternatives for the $40 billion in exports, we need to focus more on the European and U.S. markets because, as the data shows, the path to $40 billion in apparel exports goes through Europe and the U.S. We already have long-standing collaborations with brands centered in Europe and America. With our knowledge, speed, production quality, design power, and geographical proximity to Europe, we distinguish ourselves from competitors. We took a very important step in the transformation process exactly one year ago. We shared our action plan, which is a road map for our fashion industry's compliance with the Green Deal, with the public on January 30, 2023."

After Mustafa Gültepe's opening speech, Euratex Director General Dirk Vantyghem, Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Trade Bahar Güçlü, and Deputy Secretary General of ITKIB Özlem Güneş made presentations regarding the ongoing efforts in the Green Deal process.

Dirk Vantyghem discussed the sustainability strategy of the textile and apparel industry and the expectations from the EU administration, while Bahar Güçlü provided information about the reflections of legal regulations related to the Green Deal on Türkiye.

Deputy Secretary General of ITKIB Özlem Güneş emphasized the significant opportunity that the Green Deal represents for the Turkish apparel industry, providing comprehensive insights into the efforts conducted by IHKIB regarding the Green Deal adaptation process.

Hosted outside of Copenhagen for the first time in its 13-year history, on 3 November, Global Fashion Summit assembled over 250 stakeholders representing manufacturers, garment workers, retailers, brands, suppliers, NGOs, policy, and innovators in Singapore and online to spur industry 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.
 
The latest edition of the Summit was centred around the theme ‘Alliances for a New Era’, building on dialogues from the June edition in Copenhagen and gathering leaders from across the entire value chain to elevate diverse voices and foster alliances within the fashion industry and beyond, to drive sustainable impact.
 
The Summit’s first international edition facilitated more conversations with manufacturer and supply chain voices to discuss crucial challenges and opportunities around working collaboratively with brands on equal terms. The programme featured bold panels, case studies, masterclasses and leadership roundtables reflecting on topics including ‘Data Scarcity: A Crisis of Measurement?’, ‘Disruption for Better Wage Systems’, ’Community and Circularity’, ‘Connecting the EU Textiles Strategy with the Value Chain’ and ‘Our Energy Transformation Moment’.
 
Attendees heard from over 50 speakers including H.E. Sandra Jensen Landi, Ambassador of Denmark to Singapore & Ambassador-Designate of Denmark to Brunei; H.E. Iwona Piórko, Ambassador of the European Union to Singapore; Anne-Laure Descours, Chief Sourcing Officer, PUMA; Baptiste Le Gal, Chief Revenue Officer APAC, Vestiaire Collective; Christian James Smith, Head of Sustainability Stakeholder Engagement, Zalando; Ninh Trinh, Director of Responsible Sourcing & Sustainability, Target; Roger Lee, CEO, TAL Apparel; Wilson Teo, President, Singapore Fashion Council; Edwin Keh, Chief Executive Officer, The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel, Ashila Dandeniya, Founder, StandUp Lanka; and more.

Key takeaways and highlights from the event include:

• Global Fashion Agenda announced a new alliance with BBC Storyworks Commercial Productions to launch a film series on BBC.com, which is currently in the early stages of development. The new series will present human-centric stories focusing on both social and environmental sustainability in the fashion industry. It will be released to a wide audience in 2023.
• Federica Marchionni outlined the crucial need for accurate and robust data to substantiate sustainability claims and credentials but acknowledged that the focus on finding ‘perfect’ data cannot be allowed to stifle progress. Global Fashion Agenda will build upon Summit discussions to reflect on how the industry can accurately measure and communicate sustainability performance and illuminate the data credibility challenges.
• The session ‘Establishing circular fashion systems in Cambodia & Vietnam’ outlined the first steps taken by the Global Circular Fashion Forum to establish circular fashion systems in Vietnam and Cambodia with regional stakeholders, government, brand and manufacturer representation.
• Throughout the Summit, the Innovation Forum connected fashion companies with sustainable solution providers. Exhibitors included Better Work , Circular Fashion Partnership, Compreli, Kno Global, Planatones by Noyon Lanka, Redress Design Award and The ID Factory.
• Through conversations such as ‘Disruption for Better Wage Systems’ and ‘Empowering the Worker Majority’, there was a resounding message for people to consider the real people in the value chain. Ensuring dignified livelihoods for these workers should have the same sense of urgency as emissions reductions. 

• An innovative European project to process and recycle plastic textile waste
• A partnership to reach the objectives set by the European Union in reducing CO2 emissions by 2030
• A unique consortium rallying 16 public and private European organizations working together for more circular economy

Carbios joined WhiteCycle, a project coordinated by Michelin, which was launched in July 2022. Its main goal is to develop a circular solution to convert complex^[1] waste containing textile made of plastic into products with high added value. Co-funded by Horizon Europe, the European Union’s research and innovation program, this unprecedented public/private European partnership includes 16 organizations and will run for four years.
 
WhiteCycle envisions that by 2030 the uptake and deployment of its circular solution will lead to the annual recycling of more than 2 million tons of the third most widely used plastic in the world, PET^[2]. This project should prevent landfilling or incineration of more than 1.8 million tons of that plastic each year. Also, it should enable reduction of CO2 emissions by around 2 million tons.
 
Complex waste containing textile (PET) from end-of-life tyres, hoses and multilayer clothes are currently difficult to recycle, but could soon become recyclable thanks to the project outcomes. Raw material from PET plastic waste could go back into creation of high-performance products, through a circular and viable value chain.
 
Public and private European organizations are combining their scientific and industrial expertises:

• industrial partners (Michelin, Mandals, KORDSA);
• cross-sector partnership (Inditex)
• waste management companies (Synergies TLC, ESTATO);
• intelligent monitoring systems for sorting (IRIS);
• biological recycling SME (Carbios);
• product life cycle analysis company (IPOINT);
• university, expert in FAIR data management (HVL);
• universities, research and technology organizations (PPRIME – Université de Poitiers/CNRS, DITF, IFTH, ERASME);
• industry cluster (Axelera);
• project management consulting company (Dynergie).

 
The consortium will develop new processes required throughout the industrial value chain:

• Innovative sorting technologies, to enable significant increase of the PET plastic content of complex waste streams in order to better process them;
• A pre-treatment for recuperated PET plastic content, followed by a breakthrough recycling enzyme-based process to decompose it into pure monomers in a sustainable way;
• Repolymerization of the recycled monomers into like new plastic;
• Fabrication and quality verification of the new products made of recycled plastic materials

 
WhiteCycle has a global budget of nearly 9.6 million euros and receives European funding in the amount of nearly 7.1 million euros. The consortium’s partners are based in five countries (France, Spain, Germany, Norway and Turkey). Coordinated by Michelin, it has an effective governance system involving a steering committee, an advisory board and a technical support committee.

^[1] Complex waste: multi materials waste (Rubber goods composites and multi-layer textile)
^[2] PET: Polyethylene terephthalate

With the wipes sector adapting to demands for products that protect consumers from COVID-related risks, industry experts will present the latest insights for moving forward post-pandemic at the World of Wipes® (WOW) International Conference.   

The shift from “clean” to “safe” in the world of wipes will be among the key topics thought-leading speakers will address at the in-person event, June 27-30, at the Marriott Marquis in Chicago.

The information-packed program will tackle timely topics to support decision making on the following key themes: Circular and Sustainable Wipes, Supply Chain Challenges in Wipes, Nonwoven Substrates for More Sustainable Wipes, Trends in the Wipes Market and Among Consumers, Disinfection Concerns and New Technologies, Sustainable Wipe Packaging Trends and Developments in Flushability Issues.

World of Wipes Session Highlights

• Lifestyle Shifts and the World of Wipes: Meeting the Changing Consumer Demand to Secure Growth – Liying Quian, Research Analyst, Euromonitor International will explore personal and beauty care trends based on consumer surveys that could shape wipes’ long-term performance
• The Supply Chain – Import Pressures Versus Domestic Manufacturing – Jacob Smith, Director, Supply Chain and Customer Care, Health, Hygiene, and Specialties Division, North America, Berry Global will share his expertise and experience on how COVID-19 has impacted domestic production and international sourcing of wipes
• Packaging Sustainability:  A Global Perspective – David Clark, Vice President of Sustainability, Amcor will look at how consumer brands, retailers and others are responding to consumer demand for more sustainable packaging and discuss progress and risks in the U.S. and other countries
• How Sustainable are You Willing to Be? New Technology to Support Use of Recycled Fiber Sources – Richard Knowlson, Principal, RPK Consulting will tackle the question of how new manufacturing technology can help produce more sustainable nonwoven substrates in today’s price-sensitive environment
• Dead Turtle Logos – What We Know So Far in the EU – Heidi Beatty, Chief Executive Officer, Crown Abbey, LLC will share the latest learnings on the European Union’s Single Use Plastic Directive and the impact of the plastic-free packaging logos on consumer attitudes
• Challenges and Pitfalls of Scaling Up a Waste Cleaning Wipes Collection and Recycle System – Sergio Barbarino, Research Fellow, Fabric and Home Care Open Innovation, Procter & Gamble Distribution Company Europe will look at cleaning wipes’ potential to be recycled and become a convenient pioneering experimental platform
• Case Study: Surface Disinfection Incompatibility with Medical Devices Creates Potential Patient Risks – Caroline Etland, Ph.D., RN. CNS, ACHPN, Associate Professor, Hahn School of Nursing, BINR, University of San Diego will share real examples of the issues healthcare facilities face with surface disinfection incompatibility that make cleaning and disinfection a major challenge

In addition to the conference program, WOW 2022 also features two nights of tabletop displays and receptions; the presentation of the World of Wipes Innovation Award® and the INDA Lifetime Technical Achievement Award; and 11 hours of face-to-face engagement during a welcome reception, first-time attendee mentorship program, and breakfast connections. The event kicks off with the WIPES Academy, a 1.5-day value-added training opportunity on June 27-28.

Under the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) initiative to enhance transparency and traceability in the garment and footwear industry, Haelixa realizes a pilot project with Costach Cooperative and Peruvian textile company Creditex to give sustainable rural cotton producers in Peru more visibility in the value chain.

In 2019, UNECE and United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) have set up an initiative to drive transparency and traceability for sustainable value chains in the garment and footwear industry. The initiative is jointly implemented with the International Trade Centre (ITC) with financial support by the European Union. Haelixa is proud to be part of the group of experts that develops policy recommendations, traceability standards, and conducts projects to set traceability benchmarks. With the support of the +Cotton Project, implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC) a pilot is being realized in this context to mark and trace the finest Pima cotton for Creditex directly at the gin in Piura, Peru. Haelixa’s DNA marker connects the actual lint cotton to the entry on a blockchain system provided by UNECE. The Haelixa technology ensures that the information about the product’s origin and the journey of the product along the value chain is always safely embedded into the product itself. The marked cotton will be used to make exclusive pajamas sets for Cat´s Pajamas. DNA traceability will enable the verification of the premium origin of Peruvian Pima cotton in the final garment produced using sustainable practices by family farmers associated with the Costach cooperative.

Costach is the main cooperative of cotton farmers in Peru. The cooperative consists of 5,200 family farmers in the Piura region, producing mostly extra-long fiber of Pima Cotton. Since 2017, the +Cotton project has been supporting the farmers with training on sustainable practices and has been providing technical assistance for improved markets access.

Creditex is vertically integrated from cotton ginning to fine thread, up to the production of high quality apparel for international premium brands. The company takes social responsibility and environmental stewardship very seriously and therefore makes a strong partner for this project, empowering the cotton family farmers that hold the majority of cotton production in Peru.

• Renewable Carbon Initiative (RCI) published a strategy paper on the defossilisation of the chemical and material industry with eleven policy recommendations

The Renewable Carbon Initiative, an interest group of more than 30 companies from the wide field of the chemical and material value chains, was founded in 2020 to collaboratively enable the chemical and material industries to tackle the challenges in meeting the climate goals set by the European Union and the sustainability expectations held by societies around the globe.

RCI addresses the core of the climate problem: 72% of anthropogenic climate change is caused directly by extracted fossil carbon from the ground. In order to rapidly mitigate climate change and achieve our global ambition for greenhouse gas emission reductions, the inflow of further fossil carbon from the ground into our system must be reduced as quickly as possible and in large scale.

In the energy and transport sector, this means a vigorous and fast expansion of renewable energies, hydrogen and electromobility, the so-called decarbonisation of these sectors. The EU has already started pushing an ambitious agenda in this space and will continue to do so, for instance with the recently released ‘Fit for 55’ package.

However, these policies have so far largely ignored other industries that extract and use fossil carbon. The chemical and material industries have a high demand for carbon and are essentially only possible with carbon-based feedstocks, as most of their products cannot do without carbon. Unlike energy, these sectors cannot be “decarbonised”, as molecules will always need carbon. The equivalent to decarbonisation via renewable energy in the energy sector is the transition to renewable carbon in the chemical and derived materials industries. Both strategies avoid bringing additional fossil carbon from the ground into the cycle and can be summarised under the term “defossilisation”.

To decouple chemistry from fossil carbon, the key question is which non-fossil carbon sources can be used in the future. Rapid developments in biosciences and chemistry have unlocked novel, renewable and increasingly affordable sources of carbon, which provide us with alternative solutions for a more sustainable chemicals and materials sector. These alternative sources are: biomass, utilisation of CO2 and recycling. They are combined under the term “renewable carbon”. When used as a guiding principle, renewable carbon provides a clear goal to work towards with sufficient room to manoeuvre for the whole sector. It enables the industry to think out of the box of established boundaries and stop the influx of additional fossil carbon from the ground.

The systematic change to renewable carbon will not only require significant efforts from industry, but must be supported by policy measures, technology developments and major investments. In order to implement a rapid and high-volume transition away from fossil carbon, and to demonstrate its impact, a supportive policy framework is essential. The emphasis should be put on sourcing carbon responsibly and in a manner that does not adversely impact the wider planetary boundaries nor undermines societal foundations. An overarching carbon management strategy is required that also takes specific regional and application-related features into account, to identify the most sustainable carbon source from the renewable carbon family. This will allow for a proper organisation of the complex transition from today’s fossil carbon from the ground to renewable energy and to renewable carbon across all industrial sectors.

RCI has developed eleven concrete policy recommendations on renewable carbon, carbon management, support for the transformation of the existing chemical infrastructure and the transformation of biofuel plants into chemical suppliers. The policy paper “Renewable Carbon as a Guiding Principle for Sustainable Carbon Cycles” is freely available for download in both a short version and a long version.

Link for Download: https://renewable-carbon-initiative.com/media/library/

Members of TMAS – the Swedish textile machinery association – are proving instrumental in pioneering new sustainable processes for the dyeing, finishing and decoration of textiles.

The wasteful processes involved in these manufacturing stages are only one component in the development of viable circular supply chains for textiles that are now being established in Sweden.

At the recent Conference on Sustainable Finishing of Textiles, held across three separate afternoons on September 30^th, October 1^st and October 7^th, delegates heard that Sweden will introduce extended producer responsibility (EPR) for waste textiles and clothing at the beginning of 2022, ahead of the adoption of a similar European Union-wide EPR system in 2025.

New fibers
Swedish companies are also active in the development of new fibers derived from waste clothing, building on the country’s legacy leadership in pulp and paper production.

At the Sustainable Finishing of Textiles Conference, however, it was said that all of the environmental gains made by such sustainable new fibers can potentially be cancelled out in the further processing they are subjected to – and especially in resource-intensive conventional dyeing, finishing and decoration.

TMAS members Baldwin Technology and Coloreel have both developed solutions to address this issue.

TexCoat G4
During the conference, Baldwin’s VP of Global Business Development Rick Stanford explained that his company’s TexCoat G4 non-contact spray technology significantly reduces water, chemistry and energy consumption in the finishing process. It consistently and uniformly sprays chemistry across a fabric surface and applies it only where needed, on one or both sides.

Instant coloring
Coloreel’s CEO Mattias Nordin outlined the benefits of his company’s technology which enables the high-quality and instant coloring of a textile thread on-demand and can be paired with any existing embroidery machine without modification. This enables unique effects like shades and gradient to be achieved in an embroidery for the first time.

• Achievement Ahead of Schedule

All of Sateri’s five viscose mills in China are now fully compliant with the emission limits set out in the European Union Best Available Techniques Reference Document (EU-BAT BREF) on Polymers, following recent verification of Sateri Jiangsu and Sateri China mills.

Verified by independent consultant Sustainable Textile Solutions (STS), a division of BluWin Limited (UK), the parameters assessed included resource utility efficiency, wastewater discharge and air emission.

Allen Zhang, President of Sateri said, “Sateri Jiangsu was established in 2019 following an acquisition while Sateri China was built in the same year. We had aimed to have both mills meet EU-BAT’s recommended emission levels by 2023. To achieve this two years ahead of schedule underscores our continuous efforts in process improvement and control of pollutant emissions, and resource utilization efficiency. We will continue to pursue manufacturing excellence and invest in best-in-class technologies for all our mills – existing, acquired, and newly constructed ones – as part of our Vision 2030 commitment towards closed-loop and cleaner production.”

Chen Xinwei, Chairman of China Chemical Fiber Industry Association, said, "China's regenerated cellulose fibre industry has been progressing steadily in recent years. As a major viscose manufacturer, Sateri has demonstrated leadership in benchmarking itself against advanced domestic and international standards, focusing on low-carbon development, energy-saving and emission-reduction technology, and cleaner production to advance sustainable development, as well as enhance the company’s competitiveness. All other players in the industry should be encouraged to follow suit."

Sateri is a member of the RGE group of companies; Sateri’s other three mills - Sateri Fujian, Sateri Jiujiang and Sateri China (Jiangxi) - had attained EU-BAT compliance in 2020.

• Monforts customer Kipaş has been selected as the sole denim manufacturing partner in the €6.7 million European Union-funded New Cotton Project, involving the brands adidas and H&M, working in a consortium with suppliers, innovators and research institutes.

Kipaş, based in Kahramanmaraş, Turkey, is currently installing its third Monforts Montex stenter along with a third Monfortex compressive shrinkage system in a combined configuration dedicated to denim production.

This follows the successful installation and commissioning of the second Montex and Monfortex lines at the Kahramanmaraş plant in 2018, which Kipaş Vice Chairman of the Board Ahmet Öksüz said had immediately exceeded expectations.

“We performed a very thorough technical investigation based on the latest Industry 4.0 analysis before the purchase, to determine what we needed, and the Monforts technology met all our requirements,” he said, in an interview with Textilegence magazine. “The Monfortex is equipped with a variety of features not found on classical shrinkage machines and the production can be monitored from beginning to end. It also exceeded our expectations in energy cost savings.”

Kipaş subsequently received a special certificate from Monforts in recognition of its exceptional utilisation of the technology to its full potential.

The latest Montex stenter now being installed at Kipaş is a 12-chamber unit with a working width of 2 metres featuring all of the latest automation features. The Monfortex unit, also with a working width of 2 metres, is in a ‘double rubber’ configuration, comprising two compressive shrinkage units and two felt calenders in line. This allows the heat setting of elastane fibres and the residual shrinkage of the denim to be carried out simultaneously, for a significant increase in production speeds.

“Around 90-95% of denim fabric production now contains elastane fibres and the Monforts system has allowed us to simultaneously increase our production and quality in this respect,” Mr Öksüz said.

Regenerated cotton
For the next three years within the New Cotton Project, Kipaş will manufacture denim fabrics based on the cellulose-based fibres of Infinited Fiber Company of Finland, made from post-consumer textile waste that has been collected, sorted and regenerated.

The patented technology of Infinited, which is leading the consortium of 12 companies, turns cellulose-rich textile waste into fibres that look and feel like cotton.

“We are very excited and proud to lead this project which is breaking new ground when it comes to making circularity in the textile industry a reality,” said Infinited co-founder and CEO Petri Alava. “The enthusiasm and commitment with which the entire consortium has come together to work towards a cleaner, more sustainable future for fashion is truly inspiring.”

Take-back programmes
Adidas and H&M will establish take-back programmes to collect the clothing that is produced, to determine the next phase in their lifecycle. Clothing that can no longer be worn will be returned to Infinited, for regeneration into new fibres, further contributing to a circular economy in which textiles never go to waste, but instead are reused, recycled or turned into new garments.

The aim is to prove that circular, sustainable fashion can be achieved today, and to act as an inspiration and stepping stone to further, even bigger circular initiatives by the industry going forward.

The EU has identified the high potential for circularity within the textile industry, while simultaneously highlighting the urgent need for the development of technologies to produce and design sustainable and circular bio-based materials. Making sustainable products commonplace, reducing waste and leading global efforts on circularity are outlined in the European Commission’s Circular Economy Action Plan.

Fashion brands produce nearly twice as many clothes today as they did 20 years ago and demand is expected to continue growing. At the same time, the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned every second. Most of the textile industry’s environmental problems relate to the raw materials used by the industry – cotton, fossil-based fibres such as polyester, and viscose as the most common man-made cellulosic fibre, are all associated with serious environmental concerns.

To Accelerate Public-Private Cooperation in Supply Chain Transparency

Asia Pacific Rayon (APR) has joined the first neutral and public traceability platform capable of visualising blockchain-based supply chain data from multiple companies and sources. It aims to help businesses across industries respond to consumer demands for ethical and environmentally friendly products.
The neutral and safe space for collaboration is provided by the World Economic Forum and created in collaboration with Everledger, Lenzing Group, TextileGenesis™, and the International Trade Centre. APR will contribute to Phase 2 of the initiative which seeks to incorporate more data sources.

“APR has started harnessing the potential of enterprise blockchain technology to enable customers to trace finished products back to the plantation forest origins on a smartphone app. To be able now to connect our data to other similar industry initiatives is a natural next step for APR, as is extending the benefits of our upstream traceability to the rest of the textile value chain.

Enhancing Follow Our Fibre with New Mill Sustainability Dashboard

Launched in mid-2019, APR’s blockchain-based Follow Our Fibre allows customers and stakeholders to scan its viscose product with a user-friendly app to access data that traces the product’s journey from plant nursery to viscose manufacturing and on to seaports. In October 2019, APR announced a collaboration with TrusTrace to integrate Follow Our Fibre with the latter’s T-Trace module. This helps connect APR’s upstream data to downstream textile value chain actors such as yarn and fabric customers and fashion brands.

More recently, a sustainability dashboard tracking key mill environmental performance indicators has been added to Follow Our Fibre. The dashboard presents APR’s performance in its first year of operations where a baseline has been established for quarterly tracking, reporting and continuous improvement.
The performance indicators follow key industry standards being set by ZDHC for Man-Made Cellulosic Fibres (MMCF), as well as the European Union Best Available Technologies (EU BAT).