More than 200 participants participated in the webinar titled “towards a more sustainable textile industry: case studies toward circular economy” on May 28^th.

“Towards a more sustainable textile industry” is a series of workshops and hands-on event co-organized by AEI Tèxtils, the Catalan Technical Textiles’ cluster, and ACCIÓ, the Catalan Government’s agency for enterprise competitiveness.

The first edition, organized on February 2019, was a success with over forty participants. The key discussion points were the challenges towards substitution of hazardous chemicals used in textile finishing sector. The workshop report is available here. 

In this second edition, remote due to the current situation, has broadened the scope with case studies focused on circular economy of the technical textiles sectors led by Catalan companies. Besides, the cluster AEI Tèxtils and ACCIÓ presented their initiatives in this framework.

The following participants comprised the first block of the webinar:

• Maite Ardèvol, Circular economy and sustainability coordinator in ACCIÓ, presented the different public initiatives led by ACCIÓ. In addition, she presented the core framework of the new European Green Deal where the textile sector will have an important role to help contributing towards a climate neutrality goal set by the European Commission.

• Maria Dolors Nuñez, technology opportunity assessment and detection from ACCIÓ, presented the European project S3CHEM and the role of green chemistry as innovation vector towards a more sustainable economy.

• Mireia Cañellas, Sustainable development manager in the Sustainability and territory department of the Generalitat de Catalunya, featured the project CIRCE and its two main action lines in the coming months: the Recircular Challenge together with UPC and the Circular Economy Pact.

• Josep Casamada, Project Manager of AEI Tèxtils, presented the project SUSTEX, coordinated by the cluster. Its goal is to provide tools and know-how to the Catalan textile industry in order to promote hazardous chemical substitution and facilitate the adoption of eco-design criteria in manufacturing.

• Ariadna Detrell, Cluster Manager of AEI Tèxtils, featured the new project CIRCULARTECH also led by the cluster. This project aims to identify barriers and potential actions to overcome them and promote circular economy in the specificity of the technical textile sector.

• Gertri Ferrer, Sustainability Project Manager at the technological center LEITAT, presented the project ECODISTEX which was led by the cluster with technical support from LEITAT. The project focused on the promotion of eco-design within the technical textiles’ sector.

During the second part of the webinar, LEITAT presented the results and conclusions of two hands-on case studies about substitution of hazardous chemical products used in the textile finishing processes. (LIFE-FLAREX / MIDWOR). Ruth Garcia (LEITAT) i María Pozo (LEITAT), together with life cycle expert Maria Rosa Riera (LEITAT) and risk assessment expert Rubén Álvarez (LEITAT), presented the key outcomes of the project and the viable alternatives in order to promote informed substitution in the liquid repellent and flame retardant products for textile finishing.

Lastly, on the last block of the webinar, three companies, members of the cluster, presented their practical experiences. Joan Pera, manager of Manufacturas ARPE, presented their internal eco-design process as driver to create innovative and sustainable solutions.  Then, Joan Santamaria, manager of Hilaturas Arnau presented their portfolio of sustainable yarns based on recycled technical fibers and based on natural-based sustainable fibers. Lastly, the webinar ended with the presentation from Mark Hartnell, textile director of SEAQUAL, who presented their trademark initiative to label products containing yarns with recycled marine waste recovered as a way to upcycle towards high added value products.

The recording of the webinar is available here:

Webinar presentations:

• ACCIÓ en Economia Circular – Maite Ardèvol
• S3CHEM – Maria Dolors Nuñez (ACCIÓ)
• CIRCE – Mireia Cañellas (Departament de Territori i Sostenibilitat)
• SUSTEX – Josep Casamada (AEI Tèxtils)
• CIRCULARTECH – Ariadna Detrell (AEI Tèxtils)
• ECODISTEX – Gertri Ferrer (LEITAT)
• LIFE-FLAREX i MIDWOR-LIFE – Ruth Garcia, María Pozo, MªRosa Riera i Rubén Álvarez
• MANUFACTURAS ARPE – Joan Pera
• SEAQUAL – Mark Hartnell