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Switching to organic cotton could reduce the global warming impact of cotton production by 46 per cent, compared to non-organic cotton, according to a report published in (Cool Cotton—Cotton and Climate Change) the Soil Association.
Consumption of scarce fresh water can also be reduced by over 90 per cent and energy use by over 60 per cent due to organic cotton. By contrast, if current practices remain unchecked, from cotton production could increase to 300 million tonnes of CO2e by 2020.
Due to its heavy use of insecticides and water, high GHG emissions, and land use, cotton has been termed as the world’s dirtiest crop. 26 million tonnes of cotton was produced globally in 2013-14, on about 33 million hectares of land in a hundred countries. This was done using 2.5 per cent of the world’s farmland. One hundred million households are dependant on cotton farming. These are mostly in some of the poorest countries of the world. Cotton is also responsible for 16 per cent of the global insecticide use—more than any other crop, apart from GHG emissions. Across the world, cotton production releases 220 million tonnes of CO2e, and one tonne of non-organic cotton produces 1.8 tonnes of CO2e.
Organic cotton is in great demand today. Global market for organic cotton grew by 67 per cent last year, and is now worth an estimated $15.7 billion. Sales of Soil Association certified textiles rose 3.4 per cent to £18.6 million last year in the UK and global production of organic cotton is estimated to increase by 15-20 per cent in 2014-15.
Techtextil North America will be held on May 3 to 5, 2016 where experts will gather to discuss industry advancements in the field of technical textiles. This is the 13th edition of North America’s only dedicated show for technical textiles and nonwovens. The event will address market developments, technological information, new technical processes and products, as well as international industry trends. It is a platform for exhibitors interested in introducing new brands.
Presentations by top industry experts are an attraction. They will provide exciting insights on new topics in a variety of formats. These sessions will give visitors and exhibitors the opportunity to engage and gain knowledge about upcoming advancements in their application field. Visitors will have access to a vast array of products and solutions from areas in technical textiles, durable nonwovens, sewn product equipment, software, geo synthetics, and composites. There will be yarns, woven fabrics, coated textiles, knitted fabrics, canvas products, composites, accessories, machinery, fibers and more.
The exhibition assembles all vertical aspects of the technical textile industry – from research and development, through raw materials and production processes and finally ending in conversion, further treatment and recycling.
www.techtextilna.com/
Patagonia is marketing a new line of organic cotton where colors are dyed through an innovative process that is eco-friendly. In recent years, consumers are becoming aware about what is behind the things they buy. This is sensitising more and more companies and bringing them to implement a true revolution in terms of materials used, production processes and chemicals and working conditions.
Patagonia, is getting recognition for a real revolution in the production of its jeans. Hazardous chemicals used for cotton production were shelved in favor of organic production. Harmful pesticides, synthetic fertilisers, herbicides or chemicals poisonous to humans and environment were totally avoided.
Traditional denim dyeing involves the use of millions of liters of water and various wash and rinse cycles to achieve the desired result. Patagonia invested in research and now, thanks to a new dyeing process and production through coloring that more easily adheres to the cotton, it is able to minimise the consumption of resources and related environmental damage.
The result is a substantial reduction of environmental impact of denim production chain: savings of 84 per cent water, 30 per cent electricity consumption and 25 per cent Co2 emissions.
https://www.patagonia.com/us/denim
Siddiqur Rahman, BGMEA President points out managing low cost fund for factory owners to complete remediation works to turn the RMG sector full-fledged compliant is his main task. Workers safety has been identified by the retailers’ platforms, Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, and Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh. Thus, his priority to make the sector safe for workers.
Rahman argues some factories have closed down because of safety inspections by the Accord and Alliance. These factories need relocation. The factory owners are not getting approval of new buildings to establish units in Detailed Area Plan as it is too wide. Thus, Rahman is trying to get the approval of the plan to establish RMG factories to ensure relocation to make the sector compliant. And, to shape the RMG industry in a modern and compliant manner, Rahman’s ultimate goal is the implementation of Bausia Garment Palli.
As far as workers’ rights are concerned, Rahman says, since Bangladesh is an ILO-ratified country, if a factory owner runs it according to rules and ensures all workers’ rights, there is no need to form a trade union forcibly. However, if workers think that their rights are not established, they can form a trade union to bargain as per the laws.
To increase and improve productivity, the BGMEA has introduced Center of Excellence for Bangladesh Apparel Industry (CEBAI), for research and development. Rahman believes if the industry uses state-of-art machinery, information technology and hire trained human resource management team, productivity will rise automatically.
Ultrafabrics, specialises in engineering, manufacturing and distribution of polyurethane materials. Ultrafabrics is a pioneer in the polyurethane synthetic leather industry. Various companies and brands use Ultrafabrics’ products as an alternative to leather or woven fabrics. The manufacturer’s collections offer a great variety of different colors and textures and allow for exciting collaborations across the interior design industry.
Ultrafabrics offers environmentally friendly products. As harmony with human and environmental interaction is important to the company, PVC-free and low VOC (volatile organic compound) attributes ensure a sustainable presence within customers’ inner and outer environment. Manufacturing processes are based on conservation of raw materials, toxic-free solutions, and minimal dependency on natural resources. Standards have been regimented to meet the emissions and environmental criteria from the numerous global markets that Ultrafabrics serves.
Ultrafabrics will exhibit its line of products at the Future Fabrics Expo to be held in England, September 29 to 30, 2015. The expo showcases and promotes innovative and commercially viable fibers, fabrics and products that embody a range of sustainable principles and new technologies. The intention is to creatively inspire designers as well as educate them about the newest developments in sustainable fabrics. For the past five years the expo has been showcasing some of the best low-impact innovations in international fashion and interior textiles.
https://www.ultrafabricsllc.com/
The new goods and services tax (GST) will roll out from the next fiscal year, says finance minister Arun Jaitley. This, despite pending issues regarding direct tax. Jaitley, says the Congress is trying to delay the new tax regime, however, one must remember, it is a transactional tax and not an income tax. He expressed confidence that GST bill will be passed in next session of the Rajya Sabha.
However, he it was not necessary to implement the new regime from April 1, 2016. Also, since it is a transactional tax, it can come into effect from the first date of any other month, Jaitley said. Regarding retrospective tax and minimum alternate tax (MAT) issues in India the minister explained these are over for the future and that transfer pricing has been resolved.
Besides, all macroeconomic parameters now are in the positive territory and GDP growth is expected to outperform 7.3 per cent rate of last year. The positive territory also includes fiscal deficit and inflation. The Chinese economic slowdown, would impact stock markets and added India welcomes Chinese investments in the country. Besides, he mentioned that several sectors are affected by the high cost of capital and that the domestic private sector investments have been slow.
The minister’s tour is intended to attract investors to India. He said the government has prepared a new law to ensure disputes are settled through arbitration in six months to expedite dispute settlement.
To augment product innovation, process and production management across the textile value chain from fibre to garment, German testing and certification firm TÜV SÜD has announced entry into the advisory domain for textile manufacturing in India. A multi-pronged approach towards quality, safety and efficiency in textile manufacturing will be followed by the newly launched services. A team of global experts will help deliver customised solutions for Indian textile manufacturers. The team will be a part of TUV SUD's Research and Development Advisory Services.
Businesses will be guided by the Production Advisory Services to develop new and innovative products and also help them enhance their existing plants and dry and wet processing houses. This complete service solution will also include Lab Advisory Services and Training Services to help business in the back-end by aiding them to set up quality control labs and also deliver training programmes respectively.
Suresh Kumar, Senior Vice President, Consumer Product Services, TÜV SÜD South Asia explains the size of the Indian textile industry is over $95 billion, which includes $42 billion in exports and is expected to grow to $221 billion by 2021. Thus, it is important to have a robust infrastructure that improves the acceptance of Indian textiles across the globe to achieve this target.
Kumar adds their services will provide end-to-end consultancy in product innovation and development while mitigating any risks that could hamper completion of the process. He further stated that since the industry is fragmented, they can support with an efficient single point control that helps product development plan to be on schedule, control costs, improve quality and enhance user satisfaction.
Indian importers of raw jute and jute goods importers have been told their licenses are cancelled and they have to register afresh. Besides, authorities also told them to ensure that those firms who buy raw jute or jute products from them will have to be registered with authorities concerned. Moreover, importers have to acquire a ‘no objection certificate’ (NOC) for every consignment along with the details of those who buy the imported products from them.
In effect, Indian authorities have imposed a virtual ban on the import of raw jute and its products from Bangladesh, say sources. It is almost impossible to procure NOC from the concerned department for every consignment of imported jute and jute goods. The Jute Commissioner of India’s (JCI) office issued the cancellation orders in the form of a notification. It has effectively stopped imports of raw jute and jute products from Bangladesh with immediate effect, though it did not mention the name(s) of the exporting country.
Bangladesh jute and jute goods exporters have been suddenly jolted it has also affected the livelihood of millions of farmers due to this abrupt announcement by Indian government. It will also immediately greatly affect raw jute price in the local jute market and jute goods producing mills may suspend their production forthwith to avoid incurring losses.
Bangladesh Jute Association (BJA), says hundreds of India-bound trucks loaded with raw jute and jute products are stranded at different land ports including Benapole for the last few days.
China loses ground, sourcing moves to other nations
While Asia, particularly China, has enjoyed a dominant position in shoes, apparel and household textiles manufacturing for several years, makers of these items located in developed nations such as the US and Canada have suffered a long period of decline. For example, over 98 per cent of the shoes sold in America each year are imported, and the majority of these imports come from Asia.
To consumers in Europe and North America, this growing reliance on Asia as a low-cost producer has meant low retail prices for goods of reasonable quality. However, recent increases in the cost of doing business in China, including rapidly rising labour costs, have put Chinese manufacturers in a much less favorable position. Competition from manufacturing based in low-cost nations in Africa, as well as Vietnam, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Malaysia, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Philippines and other countries is on the rise. A large chunk of apparel manufacturing earlier done in China is now moving to these countries rapidly.
Issues like rising wages, falling yuan have made it difficult for manufacturers in China to attract and retain workers in recent years. Apparel and textile workers in many parts of the world have also begun demanding shorter hours and safer working environments.
Western brands focus on increasing manufacturing
While Asian countries are wooing western buyers with low costs, poor working conditions, factory safety issues that came to the fore after building collapse and fire calamity in Bangladesh and Pakistan, some companies such as Spain’s Inditex have succeeded in creating their own manufacturing and supply chain. Such companies have also succeeded in quickly bringing fresh fashion to store shelves. Inditex, for instance can get a new item of clothing from its 300-person design team, through its manufacturing plants to its more than 6,340 stores in as little as two weeks. The company operates several manufacturing facilities in Spain. Many of its outside suppliers are located in Spain and elsewhere in Europe. The firm has been opening large numbers of new retail stores under the Zara, Pull & Bear, Massimo Dutti and Oyosho brands.
Another major development that has been happening in the West is, reshoring. Inventories of some companies and designer labels are not huge, so they don’t find investing in plants based out of the country viable. So their manufacturing happens where their products are retailed. ‘Made in USA’ is also on the rise with many American brands also investing in manufacturing capacities in the USA itself. Also brands, wanting to maintain uniformity of their product quality, such as those from Italy, believe in manufacturing products at their own plants in the country. Experts point out that as wages continue to rise in emerging nations, and shipping costs continue to be subject to spikes due to fuel prices, some portion of clothing manufacturing will continue to reshore.
www.inditex.com
Swiss embroidery producer Forster Rohner develops and produces electronic textiles for diverse markets, from industrial applications to fashion. Forster Rohner, is a leading technical textile manufacturer, known for conductive yarns, sensors, heating, and illuminated textiles. It has been supplying electronic textiles on an industrial production basis since 2013. The company develops sensor and heating textiles from a material portfolio of conductive yarns.
The company achieves illuminated textiles on fine sheer, heavy wool or technical fabrics and with its industrial embroidery machines a great variety of items are realized: panels up to seven meters long, specific sewing patterns, and ornamental motifs to fine textile edges.
E-broidery technology stands for integration of active lighting in textiles. The sophisticated LED textiles introduce a new field of materiality and function for sensational scenography in exhibition and interior design. Forster Rohner’s products are used in dresses, blazers or bags in ready-to-wear collections, sportswear with electronic muscle stimulations revealing enhanced workout effects, or in drapes and washable fabric displays for interactive products.
Application examples are high performance soft sensor structures for ECG or EEG measurements or active sportswear with almost invisibly integrated electrodes into compressive textiles thus enhancing revolutionary workout effects.
www.forsterrohner.ch/de/news/fabrikverkauf.html
