#Sustainability

2023-01-19

Inditex renews its support for Caritas’ clothing reuse and workplace inclusion drive in Spain, pledging €8.5 million

Inditex’s CEO, Óscar García Maceiras, and the president of Caritas in Spain, Manuel Bretón Romero, officially extended the two organisations’ collaboration until 2025 this morning in Madrid © 2023 Inditex

Inditex will contribute €8.5 million to Caritas during the next three years to reinforce its clothing collection and reuse initiative, known as Moda Re-, and continue to fund upskilling, training and inclusion projects for people in need in Spain. Óscar García Maceiras, CEO of Inditex, and Manuel Bretón Romero, president of Caritas in Spain, signed a new agreement this morning in Madrid, extending the collaboration between the two entities, which dates back to 2007, until 2025.

The Moda Re- programme, to which Inditex will earmark €3.5 million out of the €8.5 million pledged under the agreement, is Caritas’ community project devoted to the full-cycle management (collection, reuse via donation or charitable sale and recycling) of using clothing, an activity that has enabled the NGO to create 1,200 jobs, half of which inclusion-driven.

Between 2023 and 2025, the money donated by Inditex to the Moda Re- scheme will mainly go to reinforcing clothing collection capacity and the related traceability systems and expanding its 129-store chain of charity shops with new openings. In order to give new life to any products collected that cannot be reused, Moda Re- will continue to innovate at its textile processing facilities in Bilbao, Barcelona and Valencia, where it extracts fibres and raw materials of value for the industry.

Caritas’ employment and training programme, meanwhile, will receive €5 million of funding to continue to carry out projects that provide labour skills to vulnerable people at risk of social exclusion and those left behind in order to increase their chances of inclusion. With that money, Caritas will also roll out social economy and selfemployment initiatives.

Since 2007, the year it began to work with Caritas, Inditex has donated over €32 million to the NGO’s humanitarian aid and emergency, international cooperation and community work projects in Spain. During today’s signing ceremony, Manuel Bretón, Caritas’ president in Spain, underscored that “Inditex’s support will allow us to articulate proposals for social transformation that shape a society based on respect for human rights, dignity, cooperation and justice, all framed by care for our planet”.

Texprocess 2026: Automation, digitalisation and AI redefine textile processing

Making investment decisions in textile processing has become significantly more demanding. Increasing energy costs, a shortage of skilled labour and ongoing geopolitical uncertainties are compelling companies to focus on technologies that deliver clear gains in efficiency and process reliability. This applies equally to apparel manufacturing and to the processing of technical textiles and high-performance materials. As a result, modernisation initiatives are assessed more carefully – even as the need to upgrade production systems continues to intensify.

Techtextil 2026: Between innovation pressure & market reality

From 21 to 24 April 2026, Techtextil in Frankfurt am Main will once again become the central meeting point for the international technical textiles and nonwovens industry. Running in parallel, Texprocess will focus on the industrial implementation of textile processing technologies as the leading platform in this field. Together, the two trade fairs form a closely integrated presentation and working platform along the entire textile value chain – from material development to finished applications.

Between geopolitical pressure and industrial resilience

In this interview, Dr. Janpeter Horn (VDMA) discusses the current challenges facing textile machinery manufacturers, shaped by geopolitical tensions, regulatory developments and subdued investment. He also outlines why innovation strength, integrated solutions and strategic positioning remain key to global competitiveness.

Hohenstein publishes 2025 Sustainability Report

The testing and research service provider Hohenstein has published its latest sustainability report, outlining key progress and strategic initiatives. The report focuses on ambitious CO₂ reduction targets, the company’s new mission statement and the systematic expansion of sustainable services for customers worldwide.

Global Standard gGmbH launches second public consultation for GRTS Draft 2 for the textile industry (1–30 April 2026)

Global Standard gGmbH is pleased to announce the release of Draft 2 of the Global Responsible Textile Standard (GRTS) for its second public consultation. The consultation will be open from 1 April 2026 to 30 April 2026, inviting stakeholders across the textile and apparel value chain to provide input and contribute to the further development of this new Standard.

Textile Exchange publishes cotton Life Cycle Assessment study to strengthen impact data

Textile Exchange has published the first in a series of seven Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies designed to improve the quality and robustness of environmental impact data for raw material production across the fashion, textile, and apparel industry. The first LCA study focuses on cotton and addresses critical data gaps and methodology variability through new high-quality data across key producing countries. The study includes organic, regenerative, recycled, and country averages for conventional cotton production systems, providing a clearer picture of the associated environmental impact.

Kornit Digital expands digital production into footwear and technical textiles with Presto MAX PLUS

Kornit Digital (NASDAQ: KRNT) (“Kornit” or the “Company”), a global pioneer in sustainable, on-demand digital fashion and textile production, today unveiled the Kornit Presto MAX PLUS, a new roll-to-roll system expanding digital manufacturing into footwear, automotive interiors, military camouflage, high-performance sportswear, and high-end furnishings. Debuting at Texprocess 2026 in Frankfurt, Presto MAX PLUS enables entirely new applications for on-demand textile production.

Covestro, FILK Freiberg, and OUT e.V. develop flexible, conductive polymer smart textile system

As the smart textiles market continues to grow across healthcare, personal protection, sportswear, and automotive applications, developers are seeking new ways to integrate electronic functionality directly into textiles, without the rigidity and complexity of conventional wiring. To address this challenge, FILK Freiberg Institute, an independent research institution with expertise in polymer coatings for textile applications, collaborated with Optotransmitter-Umweltschutz-Technologie (OUT) e.V. The joint project, funded under the German Industrielle Gemeinschaftsforschung (IGF) program of the Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie (BMWE), focused on developing flexible, conductive polymer surfaces for next-generation smart textiles.