From 25th to 27th March 2020, Bremen will once more become the centre of the world wide cotton industry. The International Cotton Conference will be taking place according to the motto “Passion for Cotton!” in the historic Town Hall of this Hanseatic city rich in culture and history. Up to 500 participants from all continents of the world are expected, with science and trade equally represented. Traditionally, the Bremen Cotton Exchange and the Bremen Fibre Institute (FIBRE) act as initiators and organisers.

The Conference will be started off with keynotes from competent speakers on the status quo and the challenges of the cotton industry. The following thematically structured sessions are characterised by first-rate lectures on sector relevant topics of the supply chain, with the speakers entering a dialogue with the audience and with enough time for lively discussions.

The much-discussed industry topic at the Bremen Cotton Conference will be the “circular economy”. Basically, the Conference will be dealing with the life cycle of the natural and renewable raw material in the sense of a circular economy. Following a cradle to cradle process, the cycle begins with its natural origin, going through several stations of processing, just to be finally brought back to its biological origin. Forms of growing raw material, of processing the raw material and its reusability in the sense of resource conservation will be procedurally looked at, not to forget its biodegradability. Transparency and traceability also play an important role here.

For the first time, a guest country will be presented at the upcoming Conference. Ethiopia has been chosen as a country where cotton is produced as well as processed. The focus is directed at a developing or emerging country where much has been recently brought on the way in order to further develop existing structures in cotton growing and cotton processing in a positive way.