CARY, N.C. — June 23, 2022 — From research journals and news headlines to social posts, there is increasing attention to microplastics in our environment. People are listening and seeking ways to help with change. Forty percent of respondents say they are aware of the concerns that microfibers from clothing are polluting our oceans and waters, according to Cotton Incorporated’s Lifestyle Monitor™ Survey in February 2022, up from 35% in 2021.

The same survey notes, most consumers (66%) who are aware of microplastic pollution, know that much of this pollution is caused by washing of clothing made from synthetic fibers.

“Cotton’s versatility and durability makes it an ideal ingredient for reusable products,” says Mary Ankeny, vice president of Product Development and Implementation Operations for Cotton Incorporated. “All fabrics shed microfibers or fiber fragments through everyday wash and wear. It’s important to understand the origin of the fiber and what happens in the environment as those fibers build up or break down when developing products and shopping for clothing, sheets, towels, and personal care products.”

In 2020, Cotton Incorporated experts led research to show impacts of fabric fibers. Cotton microfibers are natural and biodegrade in tested water environments in about a month’s time compared to non-biodegradable synthetic fibers like polyester. Further research in 2021 demonstrated that cotton microfibers treated with common textile finishes, such as silicone softener, durable press finish, water repellent finish, and dye, biodegrade by more than 60% over a period of three months; a rate similar to a natural oak leaf.

“Shocking scientific research about microplastics in our drinking water and the impact plastic pollution is having on our environment is getting people’s attention,” comments Dr. Jesse Daystar, Cotton Incorporated’s vice president and chief sustainability officer. “Cotton is a plant-based and renewable ingredient. It can pull carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and nourish the soil; it can break down in water or soil. Discarded fabrics or garments can be recycled into something new. These benefits continue to position cotton as the go-to fiber for the fashion and textile industry looking to change sustainability standards.” Read more about textile recycling at https://cottontoday.cottoninc.com/our-sustainability-story/circularity/recyclability/.

Tips for minimizing microplastic pollution:

Check the label for cotton when buying clothing and home goods like sheets and towels

Wash clothing only when soiled instead of after every wear

Wash in cold water

Air dry clothing or don’t overpack the dryer to minimize friction

Learn more about cotton fabric care at https://thefabricofourlives.com/care-tips.

Check out the following Cotton Incorporated sites to learn more about cotton as a solution to microplastic pollution from our experts including dedicated content throughout July.

CottonToday, science-based facts and cotton research for sustainability-focused professionals. Learn more at https://cottontoday.cottoninc.com/our-sustainability-story/microfibers/.

Lifestyle Monitor™, data and analysis supporting brand and retail decision makers. Discover insights at https://lifestylemonitor.cottoninc.com.

Blue Jeans Go Green™ consumer denim recycling program, learn more at https://bluejeansgogreen.org/.

The Fabric of Our Lives®, cotton’s latest styles, fabrics and care tips, visit https://thefabricofourlives.com.

Posted: June 23, 2022

Source: Cotton Incorporated

BRUSSELS — June 23, 2022 — Europe has a 7-7.5 million tons textile waste problem, of which only 30-35% is collected today.

Based on the ambitious European Waste law, all EU Member States must separately collect the textile waste in 2 years and half. While some countries are designing schemes to face the waste collection challenge, currently no large-scale plan exist to process the waste.

The largest source of textile waste (85%) comes from private households and approximately 99% of the textile waste was made using virgin fibers.

We assess that to reach a fiber-to-fiber recycling rate of around 18 to 26 percent by 2030, a capital expenditure investment in the range of 6 billion € to 7 billion € will be needed, particularly to scale up sufficient sorting and processing infrastructure. The economic, social, and environmental value which could be realized, potentially total an annual impact of €3.5-4.5 billion by 2030.

Once matured and scaled, the textile recycling industry could become a profitable industry with a total market size of 6-8 billion € and around 15,000 direct new jobs by 2030.

Facing the European textile waste challenge and to finally activate circular economy in the textile sector at large scale, EURATEX in collaboration with its members launched the ReHubs initiative in 2020.

In June 2022 the first ReHubs Techno Economic Master Study (TES) has been completed and shades lights on key figures, options to collaborate for European-wide solution.

Next steps of the ReHubs initiative

At this stage our joint work paves the way for:

• A European textile recycling roadmap proposing Objectives and Key Results to recycle fiber-to-fiber 2.5 million of textile waste by 2030
• A leading collaboration hub with large players and SMEs from across an extended European textile recycling value chainA first concrete portfolio of 4 launching projects:
  • Transform textile waste into feedstock
  • Increase the adoption of mechanically recycled fibers in the value chain
  • Expand capacity by solving technical challenges for thermo-mechanical textiles recycling
  • Create capsule collection with post-consumer recycled products

The 1st project addresses current sorting technologies which have limits to identify materials with sufficient accuracy for the subsequent circular recycling processes. The “Transform Waste into Feedstock” project will focus on further developing and scaling such sorting technologies. The project group led by Texaid AG aims on building up a first 50,000 tons facility by the end 2024.

What is the ReHubs initiative?

The ReHubs initiative brings together key European and world players to solve the European textile waste problem by transforming “waste” into a resource, and to boost textile circular business model at large scale.

This collaboration is set to turn the societal textile waste issue into a business opportunity and to fulfil the EU ambitions of the Green Deal, of the mandatory texile waste collection by end 2024 and the transition into Circular Economy.

In 2020 EURATEX launched the ReHubs initiative to promote collaboration across the extended textile value chain and considering all perspectives on chemicals, fibers making, textiles making, garments production, retail and distribution, textiles waste collection, sorting and recycling.

In June 2022 ReHubs completes a Techno Economic master Study (TES) which researches critical information on the feedstock (textile waste) data, on technology, organizational and financial needs to recycle 2.5 million tons of textile waste by 2030 and to effectively launch the ReHubs.

Who participates in the ReHubs initiative so far?

To ensure inclusivity and mobilize resources, EURATEX has set three stakeholder groups:

A Business Council pooling together pioneering companies to perform the TES study;  A Stakeholder Forum with a wider pool of business, research and academia players which has been gathered twice to share high-level information and support future collaboration.

A EURATEX Task Force with 14 national associations to review progress of the ReHubs and align with policy and industry developments and national level.

Acknowledgements

The accomplishment of the TES study has been made possible thanks to pioneering companies and to outstanding advisors.

Posted: June 23, 2022

Source: EURATEX

USTER, Switzerland — June 23, 2022 — Producing quality fabrics is much easier with automated inspection. Uster EVS Fabriq Vision gathers quality data and presents it in an album, which is used to certify the quality of each fabric roll, with total traceability. It combines quality assurance and process optimization – automatically – in a solution which is already popular in technical textiles.

In a survey, customers reported that data from the Uster fabric inspection system was useful in quality assessment of the final product, as well as reports for customers. Traceability data was viewed as a particularly strong point for customers serving the automotive industry. Suppliers to this sector, and to other sensitive applications, value Uster EVS Fabriq Vision as a solution which meets the high standards of traceability, they need throughout the production chain.

Smooth and fast

Fabric producers need to guarantee reliable quality, which demands a consistently high rate of defect detection. Uster EVS Fabriq Vision ensures this is by using automated control during intermediate and final inspection, removing the need for manual inspection.

Multiple spectroscopes inspect the material. Unique image processing algorithms identify all defects automatically, recording them in a dataset for each produced roll – which is also used for traceability. A defect map is automatically generated, to help operators understand the allocation of defects in the fabric roll. This information is also available at an offline PC in the Fabriq Album software, which is a valuable tool for optimizing data for final cutting or further processing steps.

Effective – and people-friendly

A good investment shows up in spreadsheets for performance and sales – but it’s also confirmed by feedback from shopfloor personnel, as with Uster EVS Fabriq Vision.

Staff working daily with this fabric inspection system soon recognize that it’s a game-changer, because the inspection routine is increasingly automated. It works smoothly and quickly, in real time, checking every roll and locating every defect, at line running speeds.

Fabriq Album has even more people-friendly tools to make life easier for users. With manual classification, defects can be given customer-specific codes to identify each defect clearly. Unwanted images, or defects which can be ignored, can be removed automatically from the dataset, but are then retained in a hidden layer, for completeness of the dataset.

The future starts

The Fabriq Album software ensures optimum inspection efficiency and throughput. Machine learning capabilities and the implementation of AI-assisted defect classification extend the use of quality data generated by Fabriq Vision. Uster Fabric Inspection solutions bring the added benefit of helping customers to prepare for a digital future.

Uster’s use of Artificial Intelligence for automated fabric inspection was the subject of Michelle Salg’s talk at Techtextil Frankfurt. The Uster Product Manager for Fabric Inspection spoke in the Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence session, on June 22. Anyone who missed it can see all the details from her white paper available at uster.com/adc.

Data-based delivers

Leaders in fabric manufacturing – including knitters – can use Fabriq Vision to help make their own customers more successful. The key is the Fabriq Album. The whole finishing process contains different steps, sometimes executed by various companies. The dataset in Fabriq Album, generated by automated fabric inspection, is effectively a quality status report of process inputs, allowing manufacturers to manage all process steps for optimal output. Therefore, Fabriq Album empowers quality control and optimized end-products along the production chain.

The quality report, automatically created by Fabriq Album, can be provided to customers as an add-on, to give full transparency for every meter of the fabric. In technical textiles, and everywhere fabric inspection is needed – or should be – Uster Fabriq Vision can tap the potential to deliver major benefits for business.

Posted: June 23, 2022

Source: Uster Technologies AG

ZURICH — June 23, 2022 — After 3 years, the ITMF Annual Conference is back as an in-person event. Participants will meet from September 18-20, 2022, in Davos, Switzerland in the wonderful settings of the Swiss Alps in the heart of Europe.

ITMF is proud and delighted that both Swiss Textiles and Swiss Textile Machinery are co-hosts of this year’s conference.

General Theme: “Climate Change and a Sustainable Global Textile Value Chain”.
The world is faced with many short- and mid-term challenges as a result of the pandemic and disrupted supply chains. The consequences and learnings resulting of these challenges will be addressed. The long-term challenge our industry must deal with is climate change. Identifying solutions for sustainable textile production, new products, and market opportunities are key for a successful textile value chain. The conference will provide an ideal platform to exchange best- practises and demonstrate successful cooperation models.

Speakers: Industry experts from the following companies and organisations will share their expertise and vision and will engage in discussions:

Keynote Speaker: Dr. David Bosshart is a renowned philosopher, futurist, retail & consumer analyst with in-depth knowledge about consumer behaviour and the retail industry. He was CEO of the GDI Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute for Economic and Social Studies in Rüschlikon/Zurich for 22 years. He will deliver a keynote-address with the title “Between cheap, aspirational, and sustainable – textile manufacturing in a fully disruptive and interconnected world”.

Start-up Sessions: Next to speakers with a long history in the fibre, chemical, textile machinery, textile, garment, and home textile industry we are also inviting up to 6 start-up companies to share their innovations and business models. Engaging with start-ups is an effort to learn from each other and to help identify new solutions that turn challenges into opportunities

ITMF Awards 2022: For the first time, ITMF will recognise persons/companies for their outstanding achievements with the newly introduced ITMF Awards. In 2022, the ITMF Awards will be granted in two categories, namely “Innovation & Sustainability” and “International Cooperation”.

World Café: The format of the World Café, which was introduced for the first time in 2019 in Porto, Portugal, will provide delegates with the opportunity to discuss actively in smaller groups selected questions about how to navigate the current and future business environment. The results of the different groups will be shared among the participants at the end of World Café with some main take aways.

Networking Opportunities: The delegates will have many opportunities to discuss with old and new friends and colleagues the state of the industry and the way forward. The networking opportunities during the conference are numerous – breakfast, coffee breaks, lunches, and dinners. The traditional Welcome Dinner will take place in a mountain restaurant “Fuxägufer” high above the city of Davos. The informal get-together will take place in an extraordinary setting with traditional entertainment. The traditional Gala Dinner will take place in the Hotel Schweizerhof in the city of Davos and will feature a fashion show by the Swiss Textile & Design School.

All information about ITMF 2022 Davos can be found on the ITMF Conference 2022 Website. People interested to attend this unique event can contact the ITMF-secretariat at

secretariat@itmf.org.

Posted: June 23, 2022

Source: International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF)