#Associations

2022-10-13

Porto Convention asks how to square the circle?

On 13-14 October, EURATEX in partnership with ATP is organising the 10th European Textile & Apparel Convention in Porto, Portugal; the convention marks also the 24th Textile Industry Forum for Portugal.

The Porto Convention – titled Sustainability meets Competitiveness: How to Square the Circle? – will look at how companies can anticipate the new European regulatory framework, embrace innovation, and develop a business model where sustainability becomes a source of competitiveness and growth. In the current economic, social and political environment, Europe is facing many challenges: increased energy prices, unforeseen inflation and climate change, which add to the day-to-day challenges of running a business. Embracing the European Union’s commitment to a green and digital transformation, the textile industry needs to also move towards a new circular economy where recycling is at the core of the design process supported by digitalisation, innovation and new skills, and creativity. The conference will address explore solutions to turn quality and sustainability into a source of competitiveness.

The Porto Convention, the most important event at European level for the textile and apparel sector, will see representatives of national and European institutions, leading experts from the industry and like-minded entrepreneurs come together to discuss ideas, share experiences and find solutions to face common challenges. On Thursday will see the intervention of a keynote speech by Mr. Pedro Siza Vieira, Former Minister for the Economy and Digital Transition of Portugal, and two CEOs panels addressing the themes of communicating and financing sustainability:

How to Measure and Communicate about Sustainability

Show me the money – financing sustainability

The afternoon will see four workshops with industry experts for a hands-on experience addressing the themes of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in Textiles, Digital Product Passport, Recycling Textile Waste and Labelling Textile.

Finally, the second day of the convention will offer the participants the opportunity to visit local textiles companies and the CITEVE research centre to further understand the European textile context in practice. The visit will include: Têxteis J.F. Almeida, RIOPELE, and TMG Automotive.

In the evening of the convention, participants will also have the opportunity to attend a gala dinner at the beautiful location of Palacio da Bolsa.

For any further information and details about the speaker panels, you may consult the convention website – https://portoconvention.eu/ – or contact Cristina Gatti (cristina.gatti@euratex.eu).

FITA, ABIT and EURATEX underline strategic importance of Mercosur – EU Partnership Agreement for the textile and apparel industry

The Argentine Textile Industry Federation (FITA), the Brazilian Textile and Apparel Industry Association (ABIT), and the European Apparel and Textile Confederation (EURATEX) continue to monitor the process of internalizing the Mercosur-European Union Partnership Agreement. This agreement is essential for the competitiveness of our industries, on both sides of the Atlantic.

EDANA warns of consequences of misclassification of PET spunbond imports

EDANA would like to remind its members and industry stakeholders of the legal requirement to comply with the EU rules on customs classification when importing nonwovens from third countries outside the EU. In this regard, it was recently discovered that there appears to be a high level of customs misclassification occurring in our industry. This could have dangerous and costly consequences for importers.

Engineering depth and diversity for composites

Airbond is the latest member of the British Textile Machinery Association (BTMA) to receive recognition for contributions to the composites industry. The engineering firm based in Pontypool, South Wales, has just received the Make UK Energy and Sustainability Award for its Lattice 3D Printing project.

Smart sensors, smart savings - Reducing energy and cost in textile finishing

As energy prices, sustainability requirements and quality expectations continue to rise, manufacturers of technical textiles face increasing pressure to optimize efficiency while ensuring process reliability. At the same time, skilled labor shortages require production systems that are intuitive, automated and easy to manage. PLEVA addresses these challenges with robust, maintenance-friendly sensor technologies combined with intelligent process control.

From preparation to 3D weaving: Stäubli’s solutions at Techtextil 2026

Stäubli, a global leader in high performance weaving technologies, is pleased to announce its participation at Techtextil 2026 in Frankfurt, Germany, the leading international trade fair for technical textiles and nonwovens. As technical textiles continue their rapid expansion across demanding markets such as defense, mobility, aerospace, construction, energy… Stäubli will showcase innovative solutions designed to empower mills to produce the next generation of advanced fabrics. Stäubli will exhibit its trend-setting technologies at the Swiss Pavilion Booth B01.6 in Hall 12.0.

DIENES at Techtextil 2026: Flexible pilot lines for bio-based fiber development

The growing relevance of bio-based materials in technical textiles is accompanied by increasing demands for reproducibility, high-quality data, and scalable process routes. Especially when working with cellulose and its derivatives, chitosan, lignin-based approaches, or bio-based PAN as a carbon-fiber precursor, R&D teams face variable feedstock quality, tighter process windows, and the need for reliable comparability across trials. This calls for flexible, data-driven experimental setups that can be reconfigured efficiently when recipes, solvents, and raw-material batches change.

Gunold showcases embroidery product range and services at Texprocess

At Texprocess 2026, GUNOLD will present numerous hands-on examples related to embroidery in Hall 8, Booth E20. The focus is on creative embroidery designs as well as the extensive product range of threads, nonwovens, and accessories for embroidery and embellishment. “Trade visitors can once again look forward to many new and creative embroidery designs. Of course, we will also showcase the matching products required to bring these ideas to life,” announces Marketing Manager Stephan Gunold.