#Associations

2020-07-02

IAF launches CO2 improve initiative

IAF is launching its ‘CO2 improve’ initiative today, aiming to help the worldwide fashion & lifestyle community to do better when it comes to CO2 emissions through fashion logistics. Han Bekke, IAF chairman explains: ‘Fashion supply chains cover the globe so the logistical operations in the fashion industry almost by definition add up to a very high level of pollution.

With growing attention from consumers, governments and NGO’s, individual companies are willing, but also struggling, to do better. With future CO2 taxes looming on the horizon, it is ever more important for any company to know where it stands and to know how to do better.’

A standardization of the CO2 monitoring has become very important, to create a level playing field for the worldwide fashion & lifestyle community, and to end the chaos that is being created by the ever growing amount of national and generic monitoring systems, with many different and often dubious outcomes. The ‘CO2 Improve initiative’ will initiate and support the creation of the worldwide industry standard for measuring CO2 emissions through fashion logistics. Additionally and importantly, the initiative will support the fashion industry in reducing the carbon footprint of its logistics operations by innovating and by cooperating. It’s about improving instead of compensating.

Currently, IAF is mobilizing its industry association members, and many countries are already signing up, with the first encouraging results showing. IAF is working close together with both fashion-logistics and data analyses experts under direction of longtime partner Greenway Logistics. As its CEO Willem-Jan Drost adds: ‘IAF has now created its CO2 improve initiative in a way that will help the largely SME fashion & lifestyle community to do better, by offering practical, hands-on support.’ IAF offers its member associations a suite of services to help their member companies measure and then reduce their CO2 level in logistics through individual actions and particularly through collective industry projects.

“Production is a product”

From technical textiles and AI-driven robotics to the limitations of textile circularity: Professor Dr Thomas Gries looks back on more than two decades of development at ITA Aachen. In the interview, he explains why production technology remains a decisive success factor, discusses international collaborations and innovation ecosystems, and shares his views on the transformation of production landscapes and the challenges facing an increasingly regulated industry.

“We need to move away from the price trap and return to a value-driven mindset.”

With its new Textile Innovation Center, KARL MAYER is sending a strong signal for innovation, collaboration, and the future of textile applications. In this interview, Karl Josef Mayer discusses new opportunities in warp knitting, the processing of staple fibres, recycling, the changing role of machinery manufacturers, and why the textile industry must once again focus more strongly on the value of textiles. by Oliver Schmidt

“Innovation, resilience and international experience remain the great strengths of the Swiss textile machinery industry”

Geopolitical uncertainty, growing competitive pressure from China, new free trade agreements and the shift towards a circular economy are currently reshaping the global textile industry. In this interview, Cornelia Buchwalder discusses the current mood within the Swiss textile machinery sector, the industry’s distinctive innovative strength, new market opportunities in India and Asia, and the technological trends that could shape the upcoming trade fair cycle leading up to ITMA 2027.

Meadow Grove Research joins ITMF as Corporate Member

Meadow Grove Research is a commodity research firm specializing in supply, demand, and trade analysis in cotton and other soft commodities. Providing clarity to the complex nature of the global fiber supply chain is one of its most formidable services. The firm thrives on customer engagement and providing the best framework for critical decisions.

Sustainability: European industry calls on EU to keep Single-Use Plastics Directive unchanged

A broad coalition of European industry associations, including EDANA, Euratex and Plastics Europe, has urged EU institutions to maintain the current legal framework of the Single-Use Plastics Directive (SUPD). In a joint statement, the organisations argue that reopening the Directive at this stage would create legal uncertainty, increase regulatory complexity and undermine investment, while its implementation across the European Union is still incomplete.

Textile machinery: Italian technology charts the course for revival

Operating in a scenario characterized by geopolitical instability, slowing industrial investments, and new protectionist pressures. This is the main challenge for the Italian textile machinery industry that emerged during the General Assembly of ACIMIT (Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers), held today in Milan at the Shareholders’ Hall of Palazzo Edison.

New skills for a circular textile economy

Based on the results of a comprehensive analysis, the Erasmus+ project Skills4Circularity is developing three practical training modules covering recycling technologies, eco-design for the circular economy and sustainable manufacturing. The content of the first module, Recycling Technologies, has now been developed and validated together with industry representatives. The module provides participants with knowledge of regulatory requirements, material sorting and the preparation of textile waste for recycling.

Rieter sees Barmag integration on track as orders and sales rise

The first half of 2026 was shaped by the successful completion of the largest acquisition in Rieter’s history. The Man-Made Fiber Division enables entry into the growth segment of man-made fibers and sustainably strengthens Rieter’s market position in the Asia region. The expanded Group is now the world’s leading system supplier for the processing of natural and man-made fibers. In the first half of the year, initial cost savings in material costs and operating expenses have already been realized. The targeted synergies are expected to amount to at least CHF 20 million by the end of the 2028 financial year. Due to the completion of the acquisition on February 2, 2026, the first half of the year for the Man-Made Fiber Division only amounts to five months.