The Textile Exchange Sustainability Conference held in India for the first time was hosted by Mumbai from October 5-8, 2015 and appropriately themed “Textiles – A Circular Life”. The event was a powerpacked one with 33 sponsors from around the globe adding buzz to the two-day informative sessions by top speakers in sustainability, Organic Cotton Round Table and other Material Meetings. With over 340 delegates and media from 32 countries, the sessions were well-attended with active participation from the audience. Meher Castelino, Senior Correspondent, Apparel Online, reports from Mumbai.
The main points of discussion at the various forums were the future of cotton, water and forest conservation, sustainability, supply chain integrity, design and materials. The sponsors’ stalls in the Grand Ballroom and lobby of the hotel JW Marriott Sahar, featured their products and drew a lot of attention from the delegates, who were interested in the many innovative methods used to create sustainable textiles and garments. The interest from various stakeholders was palpable and why not…? The textile industry which is a US $ 1.7 trillion business employs 75 million people worldwide, is collectively the most damaging industry responsible for approximately 10 per cent of the planet’s carbon foot print.
On the other hand, organic cotton is a US $ 16 billion business yet it constitutes less than one per cent of all cotton. Also the industry is still fragmented where it is a matter of “Competition vs. Collaboration”. It would be interesting to note that 3 per cent of the global water used is due to cotton, a key input to the apparel industry; while 17.20 per cent industrial water pollution comes from textile dyeing and treatment. US $ 83 billion is the estimated global natural capital cost of water consumption from cotton farming.
The plenary session presented by Pavan Sukhdev, Founder CEO, GIST Advisory Pvt. Ltd., author of Corporation 2020 and UNEP goodwill Ambassador, has an informative look at what he called The Big Picture/Future Cast. He took a look at the world trajectory projections for environment, business and textiles, emphasising that sustainability is the fabric of values and that the bigger challenge is the way business is organized. Sukhdev stressed that while business has to be lucrative there should be social and environmental externalities.
Addressing the critical question of how one should look ahead, Sukhdev also gave some suggestions on how to get the corporations in 2020 to move ahead. Three points were highlighted starting with redefining performance and understanding the real value for all stakeholders where education, development of human capital both private and public as well as enhancing communities was needed. The second point was to measure the value with three dimensions of profit, and lastly communicate to the world about the progress.
It was stressed that the DNA of Corporation 2020 embodied “Social Purpose”, which means goals are aligned with society, while “Institute” means creating human capital. “Community” means creating social capital and “Custodian”, which means conserving natural capital. “One should create private profits and public wealth through positive externalities,” added Sukhdev. Constraints of natural resources, increasing ecological scarcities, worsening climate risks, demand recession, political and social failures, including persistence of poverty could impact business.
Taking the thought forward, in a very interactive presentation session entitled “Sustainability in the world’s biggest textile producing countries”, Shreyaskar Chaudhary, MD, Pratibha Syntex updated the delegates on the current Indian situation, while Leslie Johnston, Executive Director of C&A Foundation shared her thoughts on China. They gave deep insights of examples of progressive solutions to doing business more sustainably in these two largest global textile and apparel markets. Shreyaskar pointed out that by 2050, India would be the second largest economy and the biggest challenge for all stakeholders was – how to create an inclusive growth strategy so as to sustain communities and the environment. Leslie stressed on the Cradle to Cradle concept wherein companies were being encouraged to draw on a circular economy and the results in China have been encouraging with 15 per cent CAGR growth in circular activity from 2006-2010.
“Leading Through Actions” was another interesting session presented by LaRhea Pepper, Managing Director, Textile Exchange. The Textile Exchange is a non-profit organization in USA, which aims to bring together the textile industry to make real and meaningful changes that create positive impacts on people, air, water, animals and soil. “The mission is to accelerate sustainable practices in the textile industry. This only happens when steps have been taken to ensure that actions toward sustainability result in real and meaningful change,” said LaRhea.
The meaning of sustainability is often quite vague in the textile and garment business and needs to be explained to the customers in simple language. So LaRhea elaborated, “When you say the product is sustainable, one is telling the customers that the product is different.
One is telling about the changes that have to be made to improve the impact of your product. But it is critical that the claims are true and the change is real. Certification to third party standards gives the company and the customer confidence in the product claims.”
For accountability, standards have been set up like “Content Claim Standard” (CCS), which provides “Chain of Custody” for materials claimed in a final product by enquiring that all points along the supply chain protect the identity of the claimed materials and track its movement. The CCS can be used for B2B applications and also forms the foundation of the Textiles Exchange and other standards.
The “Organic Content Standard” (OCS) provides companies with third party verification that a final product contains the accurate amount of a given organically grown material. The OCS combines the CCS with an organic farming certification requirement to cover the raw material. The OCS can be used with any organic non-food product across all industries.
The Textile Exchange “Recycled Claim Standard” (RCS) addresses the verification of recycled material in products. The standard combines the CCS with requirement to verify that the raw material is actually recycled. Pre- and post-consumer recycled materials are tracked separately. The RCS can be used in any industry, for any reclaimed material.
LaRhea reiterated that people need to make a meaningful change and there is constant challenge for the company and the consumer, but in the end one has to make an impact. “Our vision, mission and goals are protecting, inspiring and embedding sustainability for which we want you to have a strategy. Once you have that awareness, there is no going back. In our vision we see the global textile industry protecting and storing the environment and enhancing life. The mission of Textile Exchange is to inspire and accelerate people to sustainable practices in the textile value chain. One must minimize harmful effects and maximize positive ones. Finally, the goals are to make it easier for companies to adapt to changing opportunities and requirements in textile sustainability and that actions result in real and meaningful change.”
The ground breaking film “The True Cost Movie” by Andrew Morgan, which exposed the hidden side of fashion and the devastating effect that Fast Fashion has on the environment was a big draw at the conference. The film showed the many chemicals dumped into the waters of developing countries that have caused a massive increase in cancer and birth defects. Morgan revealed that fashion is the No. 2 polluting industry in the world, following close to Oil as the No. 1 pollutant. The film showed the havoc that was caused by the leather industry to the environment and people in Kanpur. Skin diseases, health problems and sickness were part of daily life due to the pollutants discharged in the river water, air and earth; while preparing the leather for world class products that are sold at exorbitant prices around the globe.
Another highlight of the Textile Exchange Conference was the colourful Pratibha Syntex fashion show, which featured some interesting sustainable fabrics. Divided into five sections called Contemporary Gypsy, Summer Pops, Zero Waste, Lunar Athletic Journey and Dare to Dream – the men’s and women’s wear comprised draped gowns, tunics, ponchos, lounge and sleepwear, pants, shorts, shirts, sportswear, Tee dresses, denim wear and some stylish maxis, minis and midis.
