The 87th annual Congress of the IWTO took place in Hong Kong, with more than 250 wool textile industry professionals from around the world in attendance. Communicating wool's sustainability emerged as one of the key themes of the event. In his closing, IWTO President Peter Ackroyd advised attendees to serve as ambassadors for wool's environmental credentials, taking the message across the board from consumers through to textile buyers.
Stephen Wiedemann, Principal Scientist at Integrity Ag Services and Chair of the IWTO Wool Life Cycle Assessment Working Group, presented the work being done by the industry to improve the way wool is rated by environmental agencies. Members Madam Peng Yanli, President, China Wool Textile Association, and Joachim Schulz, CEO, Vlnap Wagenfelder Spinning Group spoke on wool in the automotive industry, opportunities and drawbacks.
Michael Jackson, Managing Director, AWTA chaired the forum on contracts and specifications. The contracts and specifications committee reviews proposed changes to IWTO test methods for the measurement of wool fibre, yarn and fabric properties, IWTO regulations concerning sampling and certification procedures, and the IWTO arbitration agreement.
Some other interesting presentations were by Cathrine Stange, CEO, Devold, Norway who spoke about a holistic approach to quality and Joseph Chang, Senior Sales Director, Nameson Group Retail who spoke on fashion trends.
