BANGALORE – The issue of water availability, water conservation in wet processing, and wastewater discharge in the textile supply chain will dominate this year’s Planet Textiles Summit on sustainability on 24 May at the JW Marriot Hotel in Bangalore, India.
Speakers at Planet Textiles 2017 will include Manoj Gulati, executive director of international NGO water.org, which was co-founded by actor Matt Damon and which has so far positively transformed more than five million lives around the world through access to safe water and sanitation.
The event, which is being co-organised by MCL News & Media and the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, will also feature a special breakout session hosted by the ZDHC Group. At the event, the ZDHC will reveal results of pilot testing from studies at textile mills that have adopted its pioneering wastewater discharge guidelines. The ZDHC hopes that brands and retailers will roll out these guidelines across their textile supply chains worldwide.
This year’s event partner will be leading man-made cellulosic fibre supplier Lenzing, which will unveil its latest sustainability report to delegates in Bangalore. It will also flag up new ground-breaking developments, such as the launch its ‘Refiber’ lyocell fibre – which is 20 per cent derived from recycled cotton waste.
Naturally, water use in cotton agriculture will feature heavily at the event given its location in India, which is the world’s largest cotton producer and accounted for 5.7 million metric tonnes in 2015/16, according to figures from Cotton Inc.
Shreyaskar Chaudhary, the CEO and owner of cotton textile conglomerate Pratibha Syntex, will give an overview of how his company has undertaken a holistic approach to reduce water consumption at factory and the farm, by tackling challenges existing in current textile products and manufacturing processes.
In 2005, the company – which also has an extensive organic cotton programme – was awarded the GLASA (Global Leadership Award in Sustainable Apparel) by the Sustainable Fashion Academy based in Stockholm.
Brands and retailers
Leading retailers, brands and Indian government officials are also being lined up to speak at Planet Textiles 2017, where sessions will be held on water use, costs, efficiency and environmental solutions in textile dyeing and wastewater discharge, as well as water use, disposal, and remediation in the denim industry, and the issues of MRSL and RSL in chemical management.
The event is also being sponsored by the independent textile standard Oeko-Tex and Covestro, which a leading supplier of high-tech polymers and raw materials for the textiles and footwear sector.
Other event partners include Messe Frankfurt and The Dyestuffs Manufacturers Association of India (DMAI), which will help to promote the event to the vast Indian textile sector.
“From 2017, Planet Textiles will focus more strongly on the implementation and practical side of ‘sustainability’ in the textile supply chain, with real-world case studies and examples of best practise,” said John Mowbray, editor of Ecotextile News magazine and founding director of event co-organiser MCL News & Media.
“Over the past decade, a plethora of events have emerged on sustainability in the textile supply chain, but very few of them have dealt with practical solutions or examples of tangible change – yet this type of ‘hands on’ approach is needed now more than ever if we are affect real industry change.”
Planet Textiles takes place the day following the annual Sustainable Apparel Coalition members meeting, and includes an exhibition space for solutions providers. At the 2016 event in Copenhagen, Planet Textiles was attended by over 440 leading international brands, retailers, NGO's and textile and apparel suppliers.
Register before 31 March to get a 15 per cent discount using the following code: PT15PC
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