#Recycling / Circular Economy

2021-01-14

WCTD provides written evidence to UK Parliament’s Fixing Fashion follow up Inquiry

Following the launch of World Circular Textiles Day on 8th October 2020, the WCTD’s co-founders submitted evidence paper as part of the UK Parliament’s Fixing Fashion Follow Up Inquiry and which has been accepted by the Environmental Audit Committee.

The Environmental Audit Committee will follow-up work on its 2018 inquiry, Fixing fashion: clothing consumption and sustainability. The Committee has chosen to revisit the issue to monitor progress due to continued concerns around the environmental impact of the fashion industry and working conditions in UK garment factories.

The Government rejected most of the Committee’s recommendations in 2019, which ranged from a producer responsibility charge to pay for better clothing collection and recycling to requiring due diligence checks across fashion supply chains to root out forced or child labour. However, the Government has identified textile waste as a priority area to address its Resources and Waste Strategy.

Fashion production has a considerable impact on climate and biodiversity. The global fashion industry is estimated to have produced around 2.1 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases in 2018: the equivalent to the combined emissions of France, Germany and the UK.

Fast fashion also creates a waste problem in the UK and developing countries. UK citizens buy more new clothes than any other European country and throw away over a million tonnes of clothing every year. While two thirds of clothing is either donated or collected for resale or low-quality recycling, around 336,000 tonnes are disposed of in household bins destined for landfill or incineration.

The Covid-19 pandemic has shone a light on garment factories in Leicester. Reports of poor working conditions suggests there has been little improvement since the Committee’s report, which recommended regular audits and for companies to engage with unions for their workers.

The Committee’s follow-up work will consist of gathering written evidence and a one-off oral evidence session.

Read WCTD evidence paper submitted:

https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/16225/pdf/

“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.

20 Start-Ups selected for CEMATEX Start-Up Grant at ITMA 2027

CEMATEX has selected 20 emerging start-ups from nine countries to receive the CEMATEX Start-Up Grant and showcase their innovations at Start-Up Valley during ITMA 2027 in Hanover. Their participation will be fully funded by CEMATEX, giving promising early-stage companies access to the world’s leading textile and garment technology platform.

Moving Advanced Recycling from Innovation to Implementation

The Advanced Recycling Conference 2026 explores technologies, markets, financing and scale-up of innovative recycling solutions for waste streams including mixed plastic waste, textiles and PVC. Europe’s chemical and materials sector faces growing pressure to close carbon loops, strengthen raw-material safety and resilience and meet increasingly ambitious EU recycling targets. Against this backdrop, the Advanced Recycling Conference (ARC) will bring together industry leaders, technology providers, researchers, innovators and policy-makers on 17–18 November 2026 in Cologne, Germany.

VDMA Textile Machinery with new Executive Board

At the general meeting of VDMA Textile Machinery held in Hanover at the end of September, Dr Janpeter Horn, Managing Director of A. Herzog Maschinenfabrik, was re-elected as Chairman of the trade association. Regina Brückner, managing partner of Brückner Trockentechnik, and Verena Thies, managing partner of Thies Textilmaschinen, will once again serve as vice-chairs for the next four years.

Rieter appoints Daniel Lippuner as new CEO as Thomas Oetterli steps down

Thomas Oetterli has decided to step down from his function as CEO, effective October 31, 2026, and hand over the Chairmanship of the Board of Directors. “After the successful implementation of the Next Level performance program, the structural measures initiated to consolidate the sites and the acquisition of Barmag, the time has come to hand over responsibility to new hands,” explains Thomas Oetterli.

EFI and Agfa’s DPS Business to combine andform a global, full-service industrial inkjet company

Electronics for Imaging, Inc. (“EFI”), a leading industrial inkjet business and portfolio company of Siris, and Agfa-Gevaert (“Agfa”) today announced a definitive agreement to combine Agfa’s Digital Printing Solutions business (“Agfa DPS”) with EFI. An affiliate of Siris will hold a 60% interest and Agfa will hold a 40% interest in the jointly held company, which will bring together the operating capabilities of EFI and Agfa DPS under a governance structure whereby Siris and Agfa will act as equal partners.