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The Circular Fibres Initiative, launched at the Copenhagen Fashion Summit, aims at bringing together leading businesses, NGOs, philanthropic organisations and public bodies to create a vision for a new global textiles system that will replace the linear, take-make-dispose model dominating the industry, starting with clothing companies. Nike and H&M are the first corporate partners to support the initiative, led by circular economy think tank Ellen MacArthur Foundation, with participation from the C&A Foundation, the Danish Fashion Institute, Fashion for Good, Cradle to Cradle and Mistra Future Fashion.
The effort has been taken on the aegis of the New Plastics Economy (NPEC) Initiative, launched in 2016, which brought together nearly 40 companies, including Coca-Cola, Danone and P&G, to increase plastics recycling to 70 per cent per year. The NPEC has raised $10 million, points out Ellen MacArthur Foundation spokesperson. MacArther says from this experience, they identified that a key success factor has been a precompetitive, collaborative mindset amongst participants.
What the initiative is slated to do?
The total annual global consumption of clothing amounted to $1.4 trillion per year, or about 91 billion garments sold, in 2013. Across Europe and North America, 15 million tonne annually of clothing is discarded and ends up in landfills. The initiative will map how textiles flow around the global economy and its externalities. The report is due to be published in autumn. Raising end-of-use textile collection rates in North America and Europe to about 65 per cent would save the industry about $71 billion.
The Global Fashion Agenda and the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) recently published a report that scored the fashion industry a low 32 out of 100 points for sustainability. As apparel consumption is projected to rise by 63 per cent in 2030, the need to address its footprint is all the more critical. The report addressed fashion's systemic issues, including the volume of water consumed by the industry, which today is nearly 79 billion metres (enough to fill nearly 32 million Olympic-sized swimming pools) and will double by 2030. Its carbon dioxide emissions are projected to increase to nearly 2.8 billion ton per year by 2030 — the year that fashion waste will top off at 148 million ton.
Circular economy for textile
Clothing can be repurposed in several ways: It can be collected for reuse domestically or abroad; reused for cleaning rags (wipers); shredded for new yarn; or turned into stuffing for furniture and insulation for cars and homes. By raising end-of-use textile collection rates in North America and Europe to about 65 per cent, the industry would save about $71 billion, according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation report.
A circular economy for textiles would be good for the environment. The EPA estimates recycling the clothes Americans currently toss would be equivalent to taking the emissions 1.2 million cars off the road (which will inflate to 230 million cars by 2030, according to the Global Fashion Agenda and BCG). The Ellen MacArthur Foundation suggested that nutrients embodied in biological materials can be returned to the food and farming systems to regenerate soil. And recovering nutrients in cotton lint from textile wastewater or end-of-use fabrics uses just 0.5 per cent of current chemical fertiliser consumption (cotton currently accounts for 24 per cent and 11 per cent of global sales of insecticides, respectively).
Dame Ellen MacArthur says the initiative is bringing various stakeholders in the textile industry together to catalyse change by creating an ambitious, fact-based vision for a new global textiles system, underpinned by circular economy principles, that has economic, environmental and social benefits.
BGMEA first vice president Moinuddin Ahmed Minto at a seminar has alleged that evil forces are conspiring against the ready-made garment (RMG) sector. He said the activities of these evil forces spell imminent trouble for the industry and urged all concerned to play a positive role in protecting the RMG export sector from 'imminent disaster'.
The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) in association with Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) organised the seminar. Chaired by CPD distinguished fellow Mustafizur Rahman, the seminar was addressed by BGMEA incumbent and former leaders and attended by owners of garment factories in Chittagong. CPD research director Khondaker Golam Moazzem presented the keynote paper. Minto said the government and the RMG industries have urged banks to sanction loans at single-digit interest rates, but they are still charging double-digit rates. He further said China dominates the global RMG export market with 39 per cent while Bangladesh exports only 6 per cent. But research shows China will be contributing 20 per cent to the global RMG export market losing the rest 19 per cent by 2021 due to hike of the workers' wages.
This may give Bangladesh an opportunity by capturing the world RMG market. They will have to diversify and upgrade value addition to the products in design and fashion, he added. The BGMEA leader says the target of $50 billion in RMG export earnings by 2021 on the 50th year of independence of Bangladesh could be achieved only if they prepare themselves for wholesome restricting against the backdrop of ever-changing global market.
Lenzing’s revenues for the first quarter of 2017 have risen 14.3 per cent compared to the first quarter of 2016.
EBITDA was up 46.6 per cent corresponding to an EBITDA margin of 23 per cent in comparison to 18 per cent in the prior year period. EBIT increased by 72.1 per cent as against 11.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2016.
Profits for the first quarter of 2017 improved by 69.6 per cent and earnings per share rose 67.9 per cent.
Lenzing is a supplier of high-quality, botanic cellulose fibers, ranging from dissolving pulp to standard and specialty cellulose fibers to the textile and nonwovens industry.
Assuming fiber market conditions remain at current levels, Lenzing expects a substantial earnings improvement this year compared to 2016. As of mid-2018, customers will have an additional 25,000 tons of lyocell specialty fibers at their disposal. Lenzing is currently examining several potential sites in Asia for a further lyocell plant.
Production capacities are being expanded for specialty fibers. New sales offices will be opened in Turkey and Korea.
Lenzing, based in Austria, produces premium sustainable cellulosic fibers including tencel, viscose and modal in production sites around the world, including the United States, Europe and Asia.
Four US textile trade associations – the National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO), American Fiber Manufacturers Association (AFMA), Narrow Fabrics Institute (NFI), and United States Industrial Fabrics Institute (USIFI) – have outlined the causes of the $95 billion US trade deficit in textiles and apparel and have suggested remedial steps for boosting US production and jobs. In addition, NCTO’s Upholstery Fabrics Committee submitted a statement detailing the reasons for the US trade deficit in upholstery fabrics, focusing on the imbalance with China in particular.
The associations feel if America were to reverse its trade-related red ink and create more jobs, policymakers must have a better understanding of market and economic factors responsible for driving production offshore. They also have urged the United States to continue to treat the People’s Republic of China as a nonmarket economy country under US antidumping and countervailing duty law, adding that China’s widespread use of nonmarket economic activities is one of the biggest drivers of America’s trade deficit.
NCTO is a Washington-based trade association that represents domestic textile manufacturers. The value of shipments for US textiles and apparel last year rose by nearly 11 per cent since 2009. US exports of fiber, textiles and apparel were 26.3 billion dollars in 2016.
The United States is currently the largest raw cotton exporting country in the world, accounting for 36 per cent of the total cotton export value in the world. The biggest market for US cotton is Honduras followed by Mexico. The Dominican Republic is the third leading importer of US cotton and China is the fourth leading cotton export market for the US.
World production of cotton is about 25 million tons annually. China is the world’s leading cotton producer but most of the cotton produced is consumed by the domestic market. India ranks second in cotton production but a large proportion of the cotton produced is also consumed by the Indian textile industry. The United States ranks third in cotton production in the world.
India is the second leading exporter of raw cotton in the world. Exports of raw cotton from India account for 15 per cent of the total global export value of this product. Cotton plays a vital role in the economy of the country and cotton exports contribute significantly to the country’s GDP. Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Telangana are the three leading cotton producing states in the country.
Africa’s share in the cotton trade has doubled since 1980. Although Africa does not have a significant domestic textile industry, cotton is grown by small holders in some countries of Africa.
The International Apparel Federation hosted the first session of Texprocess Forum on May 9, Texprocess/Techtextil, Germany. The subject of the session was ‘Industry 4.0’. The first sub session featured Karsten Newbury of Gerber Technology, Philippe Ribera of Lectra and Dave Gardner of Spesa. Industry 4.0 and the digitization of the apparel industry in particular is a powerful way to enable new and better business models. A company’s strategies must include digitization, the speakers said, since it is not small firms but slow firms that get eaten.
The second sub session featured Ger Brinks of Saxion University, André Wissenberg of Oerlikon and Fernando Pimentel of Abit of Brazil. They made clear that the introduction of virtual reality, the use of robots and artificial intelligence is happening in the industry, but it is a complex process. Inevitably fully automated garment production will be possible on a profitable basis.
The third sub session presented the audience with Rosanne van der Meer of the Girl and the Machine, Dieter Stellmach of the Denkendorf Institute and Tansy Fall of IoTex Magazine/WTiN. They showed how start-up businesses are using industry 4.0 technology to offer consumers new experiences, for instance, by selling a product before it is made, involving the customer fully into the design. So service becomes a major part of the value proposition.
Sinterama, the international leader in polyester yarn, in association with Polygiene, the world leader in odour control and freshness technology, have developed 100 per cent recycled fibre 'Newlife' with permanent odour control technology as opposed to the standard topical application in the yarn and fabric finishing stages.
Sinterama’s Newlife is a unique, complete and certified system of recycled polyester filament yarns coming from 100 per cent post-consumer PET bottles sourced and processed into a polymer through a mechanical process and spun into yarn exclusively and entirely in Italy that is also 100 per cent recyclable at the garment level. This whole process constitutes Sinterama’s proprietary High Tech Conversion Model (HTCM) which has become a benchmark in mechanical recycling.
Featured in Sinterama’s Newlife range, the process offers customers 100 per cent post-consumer recycled, anti-bacterial yarns. As the yarn is treated at fibre-level it will bring considerable benefits to the customer in terms of odour control, easy care and longer lasting garments, and open opportunities for the two brands in important categories: workwear and the care-sector, with potential to develop into other categories as well.
Guglielmo Fiocchi, Sinterama CEO says the agreement fits perfectly with the tradition and strategy of Sinterama to develop and innovate constantly, giving customers durable, healthy, green solutions, with additional features to delight the end user. Christian von Uthmann, Polygiene CEO observes the partnership will open new doors in categories where they see large growth potential. Polygiene treated fabrics will be capable of withstanding industrial level laundering. In addition, the shorter lead-times with the ability of pre-treated fabrics to be stored and colored is an exceptional market advantage to an even wider audience.
The German government will provide 7 million euros grants to Bangladesh to enhance the capacity of selected commercial banks to better address the funding needs of garment factories for their ongoing remediation work. The economic relations division and the German Embassy in Bangladesh have signed an agreement to roll out a project.
Muhammad Alkama Siddiqui, Additional Secretary of the ERD, and Thomas Prinz, German Ambassador, signed the agreement saying that financing of environment and safety retrofits in the Bangladesh readymade garment sector. The project will also support garment factories to bridge the knowledge gap in investments and remediation upgrades, and also aid the actual implementation of these investments. The funding would enable effective utilisation of credit, promote workers safety and improve environment standards in the apparel sector.
The project is a joint development effort by France, Germany and the European Union (EU). The objectives are to enhance the capacity of the selected commercial banks to better address the funding needs of RMG factories and support factories in bridging knowledge gap regarding investments and remediation upgrades and also supporting the actual implementation of these investments.
For the first quarter Century Textiles and Industries has gained massive profits compared to the same period last year. Net profit stood at Rs 36.83 crores compared to a net loss of Rs 2.3 crores in the corresponding quarter last year. Total income from operations rose four per cent to Rs 2,353.5 crores on a year-on-year basis.
EBITDA – earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation – grew 4.8 per cent to Rs 204.83 crores compared to Rs 195.37 crores as compared to the same period last year while EBITDA margins expanded 11 basis points to 9.67 per cent in the same period.
Mumbai-based Century Textiles and Industries is active in textiles, viscose filament yarns, cement, and pulp and paper. In the textile business, Century has two revenue streams: cotton fabric and denim units that can be integrated with ABFRL’s businesses. The company has a vertically integrated plant at Bharuch for manufacturing cotton fabrics. Century earned about Rs 1,817 crores, or 8.6 per cent of total revenues, from its fabrics and denim business.
The cotton division of Century is one of the oldest in India and manufactures a wide range of premium textiles and supplies to many international players, including Royale Linen, Ralph Lauren, DKNY, Belk and US Polo.
The American Apparel and Footwear Association, in collaboration with the Manufacturing Solutions Center (MSC), has released industry guidelines establishing testing standards for legwear, hosiery, and socks. Covering a range of issues - including product safety, labeling, and physical attributes such as color, fastness, and fit this resource provides useful, product-specific testing recommendations for the industry and its lab partners.
Rick Helfenbein, President and CEO of the American Apparel and Footwear Association says these testing guidelines are the latest in a series of member-driven tools that AAFA has released to help the industry ensure cost-effective solutions for common problems.
The legwear industry is unique explained Dan St Louis, Director of the Manufacturing Solutions Center at Catawba Valley Community College. Specific industry testing guidelines are long overdue to ensure the industry has the proper and specific guidance it needs to produce quality, compliant products.
This testing guidelines document is a free, open-industry resource that will be housed on the AAFA and MSC websites. Future versions will be released as updates become necessary.
