“Textile industry is more than ever under pressure from sustainability requirements”, explains Peter Buttiens from the European Specialist Printing Manufacturers Association, organiser of TPS. “The EU’s Green Deal targets textiles as one of the world’s most polluting sectors. On global scale, we look at UN Sustainable Development Goals and initiatives such as UN Alliance for Sustainable Fashion. Their timeline set for 2030 and 2050 may seem far in future but the time to act and exchange know-how is now. With the new TPS conference we want to contribute to the solution from the printing perspective.”

Textile Printing & Sustainability takes a broad look at all critical factors and global trends which influence textile market condition today and in the nearest future: customer-made fashion, responsible businesses, quality concerns, customisation and personalisation. The event assembles industry experts from core printing and dyeing processes, to promote best practices, discuss new application fields and explain benefits and challenges of individual technology choices.

Each conference day opens with a keynote address. Karin Ekberg, former Chair of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, presents five principles of sustainability leadership. Bianca Seidel, a pioneer of sustainable fashion design, makes a plea for transformation and for hope in the world of tomorrow. Other keynotes include Debbie McKeegan who looks at opportunities and risks of on-demand business models, and Alexandra De Raeve who explores the digitization of textile design and production.

The world’s leading printing hardware brands, Brother and Epson explain their approaches to environmentally friendly manufacturing, resource management and recent reshoring trends. Representatives of ink and chemistry companies offer a comprehensive overview of the latest material solutions, pigment ink innovations, including a novel white pigment concentrate, and their implications for specific printing techniques. Two companies lay a particular focus on dyeing and the reduction of its environmental impact, also through removing of textile prints and efficient fabric recycling at the end-of-life stage.