Israel based cleantech company UBQ Materials, which develops technologies to transform waste into sustainable materials, will partner up with multinational retail solutions provider Mainetti. The joint venture will see the companies collaborate on introducing eco-friendly and sustainable raw materials for the global fashion industry and retailers.

Founded in 2012 by Chairman Yehuda Pearl, who also founded Sabra, the leading hummus brand in the U.S.; and CEO Jack Bigio, UBQ’s proprietary technology converts residual household waste into a sustainable bio-based substitute for oil-based plastics.

By diverting landfill-destined waste, UBQ’s solution helps prevent methane emissions, groundwater contamination and other social and environmental harms associated with the proliferation of landfills, all while creating a novel raw material with a climate-positive impact. Essentially, the company turns your unwanted leftovers and trash into turtle-friendly materials for the retail world.

With billions of hangers produced globally each year, the impact that this retail mainstay alone can have on the environment is significant.

The development of Mainetti garment hangers containing UBQ material has resulted in hangers with a significantly reduced carbon footprint. These sustainable products are currently pending Cradle-to-Cradle (C2C) certification, which is a globally recognized measure for the production of safe and eco-friendly products.

Mainetti’s exclusive collaboration with UBQ for hangers offers brands across the fashion and retail industries a cost-effective method to significantly reduce their carbon footprint and a new way to put action towards the current waste crisis.

It also provides these brands with another route to connecting with consumer audiences who are armed with information and whose buying habits are an extension of their environmental values.

Two major US synthetic yarn producers–Unifi Manufacturing and Nan Ya Plastics Corporation America–recently filed petitions alleging that dumped imports of polyester textured yarn from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam are causing material injury to the domestic industry. The purpose of the petitions is to establish conditions of fair competition in the US market.

The petitioning domestic producers have asked the US government to investigate the dumping and injury and to impose anti-dumping duties on the imports of polyester textured yarn from the four countries, according to a press release from international law firm Kelley Drye & Warren LLP.

The products affected by this case are made by Unifi at its production facility in Yadkinville, North Carolina, and by Nan Ya at its production facility in Lake City, South Carolina.

The petitions were filed concurrently with the United States Department of Commerce and the United States International Trade Commission.

The filing is in response to surging volumes of unfairly-priced polyester textured yarn imports from the four nations. In January 2020, anti-dumping and countervailing duty orders were put in place on imports of polyester textured yarn from China and India.

Texbrasil (Brazilian Textile and Fashion Industry Internationalization Program), which held a virtual business round between July and August, executed business worth $840,000 from its 179 meetings with 64 buyers.

A total of 22 companies were present on the rounds, among them: 2 Rios, Arrazantty, Bia Brasil, Brandili, Charmosa, CMJ Têxtil, Daniela Tombini, Fakini, Hering, Hy Brasil, Kyly, Upvest (Lua Morena), Mari M, Maria Pavan, Maryssil, Malharia Cristina, Serpentina, Silvia Schaefer, Sling, Texneo, Têxtil J.Serrano and Vitor Zerbinato.

The round was so positive that a second version was announced, this time for buyers from the USA, which will start on October 12. Arrazanty, which recently joined Texbrasil, participated for the first time in an action with the Program, and has already confirmed its presence in the second round.

According to the brand’s executive director, Renan Tolotti, many contacts were made at the event. The company decided to join the Program to expand its sales channels and work on private label services.

In its annual ranking of sustainable wood procurement, the Canadian environmental organization Canopy gave highest ranking for its continuous leadership over the last number of years.

The Lenzing Group scored a total of 30.5 points and received for the first time a leading dark green shirt, the highest Hot Button ranking category.

Lenzing once again convinced the non-profit organization Canopy with its innovative vision with regard to circular economy and REFIBRA™ technology, its high level of transparency in wood and pulp sourcing, as well as its active contribution towards protecting forests and preserving biodiversity. In this widely recognized ranking, Canopy grades the world’s 31 largest producers of wood-based fibers with respect to their sustainable wood and pulp sourcing, their efforts with regard to using alternative non-wood feedstock and their achievements for lasting conservation in critical forests around the globe.

At a recent webinar Bangladesh’s Cotton Development Board (CDB), an independent body responsible for Bangladesh cotton industry has affirmed it plans to raise raw cotton production to 20 lakh bales by 2041 from the current annual production of 1.71 lakh bales. Besides raising cotton production acreage to two lakh hectares, and increasing production per hectare up to 10 bales instead of 6.15 bales, CPB also aims to import 71 lakh bales of cotton annually from abroad at a cost of over Tk 30,000 crore.

The webinar was attended by notable personalities like Kai Hughes, Executive Director, International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC); Robert D Simpson, FAO Representative, Bangladesh; SM Bakhtiar, Executive Chairman, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC), Al Sayeed Negom, Professor, Cotton Research Institute in Egypt and Keshob Kanti, Head-Information, ICAC.

Established on December 14, 1972, by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Cotton Development Board plans to boost cotton cultivation across the country on agro-forest land, salt, char and hilly areas.

The Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles Association (SMART) says, almost 100 per cent of used clothing and household textiles in the US can be re-used or recycled: 45 per cent are re-used as apparel; 30 per cent are converted into industrial polishing/wiping cloths and 20 per cent are processed into fiber to be manufactured into new products. 95 per cent of all used clothing is recyclable, only 5 per cent is unusable due to mildew or other contamination.

As per reports, the amount of textile waste generated by the US has doubled over the last 20 years. In 2014,16.2 million tons of textile waste was generated, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Of this amount, 2.62 million tons was recycled, 3.14 million tons was combusted for energy recovery, and 10.46 million tons was sent to the landfill.

Consumers are regarded as the main culprit for throwing away their used clothing, as only 15 per cent of consumer-used clothing is recycled, whereas more than 75 per cent of pre-use clothing is recycled by the manufacturers. The average person buys 60 per cent more items of clothing every year and keeps them for about half as long as 15 years ago, generating a huge amount of waste.

The recently closed 2020 Keqiao Textile Expo (Autumn edition) attracted 5.1 per cent more visitors than previous edition. The event attracted around 46,086 visitors, reports CCF Group. The expo displayed textile materials, fabrics, home textiles, as well as creative design at 1,270 booths at the China Textile City International Convention & Exhibition Centre in Keqiao. Well-known domestic enterprises such as Shaoxing Mulinsen, Zhejiang RGB and Sichuan Chuanmian introduced their latest products at the event.

Looking to be an international, professional, market-oriented and information-empowered event, the expo also launched live streaming, product releasing and online business matchmaking ‘on cloud’, drawing 51,018 buyers including 15,132 foreign buyers to further facilitate international cooperation and trade amid the pandemic.

Supported by the China National Textile And Apparel Council, China General Chamber of Commerce, and organized by the textile sub council of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and Shaoxing Keqiao management committee and exhibition industry development center, this year’s event implemented strict prevention and control measures to ease epidemic concerns.

As per a Vietnam Plus report, export turnover of Vietnam’s footwear and handbags industry is expected to return to growth in the fourth quarter of this year during the year-end shopping rush in European and American countries.

A report from the Ministry of Industry and Trade estimates orders of businesses in the footwear industry to gradually recover from the third quarter of this year. Though some businesses in the leather and footwear sector have already secured new orders, the purchasing power of consumers is still weak as the main import markets for Vietnamese leather and footwear products are still being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

After more than two months implementing the EU-Việt Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), footwear has been added as a commodity in the list of Vietnam’s exports with positive changes. Leather footwear production is estimated to have increased by 5.3 per cent to 31 million pairs last month. It is estimated to have increased by 0.8 per cent year-on-year to 249.1 million pairs in the past 10 months of the year.

Footwear export turnover of all kinds in 10 months was estimated to have decreased by 9.9 per cent to $13.38 billion over the same period last year.

As per a Vietnam Plus report, export turnover of Vietnam’s footwear and handbags industry is expected to return to growth in the fourth quarter of this year during the year-end shopping rush in European and American countries.

A report from the Ministry of Industry and Trade estimates orders of businesses in the footwear industry to gradually recover from the third quarter of this year. Though some businesses in the leather and footwear sector have already secured new orders, the purchasing power of consumers is still weak as the main import markets for Vietnamese leather and footwear products are still being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

After more than two months implementing the EU-Việt Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), footwear has been added as a commodity in the list of Vietnam’s exports with positive changes. Leather footwear production is estimated to have increased by 5.3 per cent to 31 million pairs last month. It is estimated to have increased by 0.8 per cent year-on-year to 249.1 million pairs in the past 10 months of the year.

Footwear export turnover of all kinds in 10 months was estimated to have decreased by 9.9 per cent to $13.38 billion over the same period last year.

The recent development of luxurious, realistic-looking fur-free furs has helped some brands shed the animal hide from collections. As per Humane Society International YouGov poll, 93 per cent British population does not wear fur. Designer labels like Gucci, Chanel, Versace, Armani, Coach, Prada, etc have all gone fur free. Even Fendi, which started life as a fur house in 1925, has scaled back its use of animal hides, emphasizing the less controversial parts of its offering – from lace dresses to handbags.

As per Jing Daily, China represents 80 per cent of the global fur trade Euromonitor predicts China’s fur production to increase from £6.6billion last year to £6.9billion in 2021. Russia and the US are big fur markets, too, as is South Korea. In the West, however, Euromonitor expects the US to photograph fewer high profile figures in fur coat.

Outliers include Jennifer Lopez, who wore a huge fur coat in much of the 2019 movie Hustlers, though she was protested against at the movie’s premiere. Hip hop stars, including Cardi B and Diddy, have also been photographed in fur.