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If nothing else, 2019 has been the year in which sustainability has been the keyword for both consumers and businesses. But while progress is being made in some areas, there’s still work to be done. Improvements in design and manufacture continue to have a positive effect in making clothes in a more sustainable fashion, but too much fashion is being thrown away and ending up in landfill.
The water target has been achieved ahead of 2020, with a reduction of more than 18 per cent against the 15 per cent target. Cotton sourced from Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) suppliers has been a large contributor to this. The Waste and Resources Action Program (WRAP) is confident that the 15 per cent target for a reduction in carbon will also be met. This is due to several factors including changes in the proportions of different fibers used, and increased use of sustainable forms of cotton.
But progress is less encouraging in some other areas. As far as whole chain waste is concerned, reduction continues at a slower pace with a 1.4 per cent improvement against baseline. Supply chain transparency is improving. However, more work is needed, and WRAP is working with signatories to try to improve this.
Renowned international winter sports and fashion brands use Sympatex membrane. This includes ski and outdoor brands. The membrane is 100 per cent recyclable and climate-neutral.
Sympatex, based in Germany, is a functional apparel specialist. As one of the world’s leading producers, Sympatex Technologies has been synonym for high-tech functional materials in clothing, footwear, accessories and technical fields of application since 1986. Together with selected partners, Sympatex develops, produces and distributes membranes, laminates and functional textiles as well as finished products worldwide. The Sympatex membrane is highly breathable, 100 per cent wind- and waterproof and regulates the climate. It is 100 per cent recyclable, climate-neutral, Bluesign certified, and it received the Oeko-Tex-Standard 100 certificate. Sympatex will kick-off many new ski, snowboard and fashion partnerships in preparation for the 2020-2021 winter season. For the 2020-2021 winter season, glove specialist Roeckl Sports will introduce its brand-new Eco Series featuring 100 per cent recyclable and climate-neutral, non-PTFE/non-PFC membranes from Sympatex. The launch will encompass six ski glove models, two each for women, men and children, with a design that conserves resources wherever possible. The six models boast a high percentage of recycled or recyclable materials and contain no PFCs – all without sacrificing superior performance.
The National Council of Textile Organisations (NCTO), representing the full spectrum of U.S. textiles from fiber though finished sewn products, issued the following statement regarding the expected passage of the U.S.Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) by the U.S. House of Representatives.
“Passage of the USMCA in the House today will mark a significant step forward in advancing the trade deal through Congress and we urge the Senate to pass it swiftly,” said NCTO President and CEO Kim Glas. “Mexico and Canada are the two largest export markets for the U.S. textile industry, totaling nearly $12 billion last year, and several provisions in USMCA will help producers expand and build new business in the critical Western Hemisphere supply chain.”
NCTO working with the administration during negotiations on USMCA and successfully lobbied for several provisions and improvements that were subsequently incorporated in the trade deal that will close loopholes and strengthen U.S. Customs enforcement.
Textile executives from North Carolina to New York have said they will seek to take advantage of the modifications in the trade deal and build new business in areas such as pocketing and sewing thread, as a result of stronger rules of origin and Customs enforcement.
The USMCA updates and modifies the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and makes significant improvements, including, Creation of a separate chapter for textiles and apparel rules of origin with strong customs enforcement language.Stronger rules of origin for sewing thread, pocketing, narrow elastics and certain coated fabrics. Under the current NAFTA, these items can be sourced from outside the region USMCA fixes this loophole and ensures these secondary components are originating to the region.Fixes the Kissell Amendment Buy American loophole, ensuring that a significant amount the Department of Homeland Security spends annually on clothing and textiles for the Transportation Security Administration is spent on domestically produced products.
This release follows NCTO’s previous endorsement of the deal reached between House Democrats and the administration last week.
After becoming the first company in the world awarded both the rigorous EU Ecolabel and Nordic Swan Ecolabel, ISKO has recently reached another important milestone in its long-standing responsible journey: it has become the first Turkish denim manufacturer awarded with Step by OEKO-TEX® modular certification system.
The certification results in a powerful tool to implement the company’s Responsible Innovation TM approach. This mindful and holistic vision tackles environmental and social responsibility to reach the goal of a 100% sustainable and ethical denim production, based on three main pillars creativity, competence and citizenship.
It is within this already responsible setting that this certification highlights where even better choices can be made, aiming at implementing responsible production processes in the long termby assessing six different areas of production conditions. These are Chemicals management, Environmental performance, Environmental management, Social responsibility, Quality management and Health protection and safety at work: together they provide an over all analysis that documents ISKO’s responsible commitment in a clear and complete way.
Step integrates the independent verification system DETOX TO ZERO by OEKO-TEX®, allowing to determine the status of chemicals management and wastewater quality in compliance with the goals of the Greenpeace Detox Campaign.
"Despite having enormous scope to gain from businesses shifting from China, Bangladesh apparel sector lost 0.1 percentage point in global export share to reach 6.4 per cent in 2018. The country’s earnings from the apparel sector grew 14.49 per cent to touch $34.13 billion in the past financial year. However, this growth was recorded mainly in physical stores. Of this, $16.88 billion revenue was generated from knitwear and $17.24 billion from woven garments."
Despite having enormous scope to gain from businesses shifting from China, Bangladesh apparel sector lost 0.1 percentage point in global export share to reach 6.4 per cent in 2018. The country’s earnings from the apparel sector grew 14.49 per cent to touch $34.13 billion in the past financial year. However, this growth was recorded mainly in physical stores. Of this, $16.88 billion revenue was generated from knitwear and $17.24 billion from woven garments. Around $5.68 billion came from non-traditional export markets and the rest $28.44 billion from traditional markets, mainly the United States and Europe.
Need better business environment, policy support
As the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters’ Association (BKMEA) revealed, Bangladesh has set a
target of reaching $50 billion in revenues from apparel exports by 2021. However, to achieve, the country needs to tackle issues like establishing a deep-sea port in the country, reducing lead times, among others. The country also needs to improve its business environment to support private-sector development, create more jobs and foster a sustainable economic growth.
Another issue that the country needs to address is: making adequate policies and implementing them. Apparel sector in the country is dependent on the production of basic items as high-value apparels cannot be produced due to the absence of skilled workers. As the recent Fair Wear Foundation report reveals, not many buyers in Bangladesh are willing to pay more for apparels. Therefore, factories are accepting orders for low-priced garments in the hope that prices would increase someday.
Decline in buyer’s capacity, low productivity pose challenges
Apparel manufacturers are also facing other challenges like a continuous decline in prices at the buyer’s end, poor image in global market, lack of compliance to labor and environmental laws and lack of product diversification and low-value products, etc. The country’s productivity is less than all its major competitors. Therefore, it needs to address these issues to be able to compete in the globally.
As per Asian Productivity Organisation, per hour labor productivity in Bangladesh is lower than the average productivity of its competitors except Cambodia. The cost of apparel production has increased 30 per cent in the past four years. In fiscal year, 2015-16 and 2018-19, value addition in the sector declined 1.61 per cent though apparel exports increased during the period.
The situation is worsening with Bangladesh moving up from ‘least developed countries’ at a time when the WTO regime is turning bad because of increased protectionism in the international market. Unhealthy competition of selling products at lower prices by exporters has triggered a significant decrease in country’s export earnings.
The ongoing tariff war has led to a significant volume of trade relocating and Bangladesh has emerged as the safest garment exporting country in the world by the inspection of Accord, Alliance and the International Labour Organisation. The country exports 61 per cent of its apparels to five countries: Germany, United States, United Kingdom, France and Spain.
More focus on non-traditional market
However, it needs to expand this market beyond the European Union and the United States. For this, the Bangladesh government should formulate policies that focus on product diversification and more value addition. It should focus more on non-traditional markets by identifying products in demand.
Bangladesh should also respond proactively to the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution by leveraging new technologies. The country should make a list of people required with certain skills and co-ordinate with entrepreneurs, policy makers, buyers and other development partners to develop these skills further.
For the first time since it’s launching, Première Vision adapted environmentally friendly collections at its Paris show that was held from February 11-13, 2020. Starting this February, the Smart Creation Area, a space dedicated to responsible creation previously only held at September show – will now be featured at each edition. It will be a first gather of exhibitors presenting eco-responsible materials and services and exhibitors who specialise in fashion technology in one space, Hall 3,
Sustainability and technology are two key subjects around which the Première Vision group has been positioning itself for several years now, to support the creative fashion industry as it evolves. About 54 exhibitors including 43 featuring responsible products (36 Smart Materials and 7 Smart Services - 1/3 being newcomers) and 11 fashion tech exhibitors. The Paris show received 53,156 visitors from 127 countries and of which 70 percent were international at its last edition.
In 2018, Sri Lanka’s earnings from apparel exports grew 3.6 per cent from the year before. About 80 per cent of its production is shipped to Europe, and the remainder to the United States. Garments are currently Sri Lanka’s leading exports.
HSBC, Sri Lanka’s largest bank, and the environmental group International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) are working together to create a cohesive low-carbon development transition strategy for the country’s garment industry. With this project, HSBC is moving beyond transactional corporate social responsibility to more of a knowledge-based contribution that benefits the communities, the environment and the country at large.
The apparel industry is a critical income earner for Sri Lanka, and supporting its transition into greener development is imperative for the growth and long-term stability of the industry. Sri Lanka’s apparel exports have made a significant impact on American, European and other major export markets around the globe. The country’s target is to reach $ 8 billion in exports by 2025. Apparels are Sri Lanka’s biggest exports to the EU. Almost 90 per cent of Sri Lankan exports to the EU are exported under GSP Plus or with zero duty. The GSP Plus scheme encourages increased value addition within Sri Lanka and thereby promotes backward integration, resulting in the setting up of new industries, and creating new employment opportunities in the country.
Leaders of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), has demanded immediate publication of the revised Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC) to help the sector avoid costly western prescriptions further. They also disagreed with the possibilities of achieving the target of $50 billion in export earnings from the readymade garment (RMG) sector by 2021.
After the Rana Plaza building collapse, the industry had to invest a huge amount of money to implement the safety measures in line with the prescriptions of the western retailers' platforms - Accord and Alliance - that missed the national context.
As a result, the prescription disrupts and ends up being super expensive for the sector. During the last six years, $ 1.5 billion has been invested in installing the equipments only for fire safety. World class fire hydrant system and fire alarms have been installed but those are not working due to humidity. These leaders suggested that the $50 billion export earnings target, fixed after the Rana Plaza building collapse, should be focused on value addition and retention as the number only creates confusion. Others sectors expected to develop resilience strategies for the supply chain of RMG in the country should also be incorporated into the study.
With a sharp decline in temperature Ludhiana has seen a rise in demand for winter wear. Manufacturers have received repeat orders to the extent of 15 percent. Fresh demand is expected to clear last year’s inventory lying with some manufacturers. They are also hopeful of clearing inventory. Currently, a majority of the units in Ludhiana work as vendors for other manufacturers. With repeat orders in hand, many manufacturers have delayed production for summer, which normally starts in the first week of December.
Having received good response from customers in October and November, big brands, which outsource finished products from the Ludhiana-based industry, have already placed repeat orders in November itself. The increase in demand from the domestic market, especially for winter wear, has provided a cushion to the slowdown in the exports market. Manufacturers feel winter may extend till March this year.
Ludhiana accounts for over 90 per cent of the total winter wear production in the country. Knitwear constitutes around 50 per cent of the domestic apparel market in India. There are around 12,000 units in Ludhiana, a majority of them in the micro, small and medium category who are engaged in the production of winter wear. The winter wear category comprises sweaters, hoodies, sweat shirts, jackets, shawls, cardigans and trousers.
As per All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA), this year, Pakistan will have to import least 6 million bales of cotton almost double what it imported last financial year. Erratic weather has crippled Pakistan’s cotton sector, resulting in lost revenue and jobs that could cost the economy more than $3 billion by the end of the fiscal year in June 2020, industry experts have warned.
Heavy rains and high temperatures during the whole of the cotton-growing season from April to September have severely damaged the crop in the country which has strained its entire textile industry.
Most of Pakistan’s cotton is grown in the southern part of Punjab province which experienced unexpectedly high temperatures in August and September, even at night. The rest is mainly cultivated in Sindh province in the southeast.
The state-run Central Cotton Research Institute in Multan has revealed that together, the heavy rains and dry spells have destroyed over a third of the country’s expected cotton harvest.
