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Textile sustainability was at the heart of the debates at the Brussels Textiles Forum organised by Euratex last week. Hélder Rosendo, business director of TMG Textiles, addressed the issue of data sharing with the Digital Product Passport as the main concern. “You have to be very careful about what you make public. The way we build our value chain is one of the most important aspects of the business.”
When asked how to improve the recyclability of end-of-life products, he replied that it involves reducing fibre mixtures. “We need to be rational when choosing fibres, explain why they are needed and work with designers,” he said.
Another of the important highlights of his speech was his reminder of the conditions that make a company earn a particular order: “The first condition is delivery time, the second is price, and only the third is sustainability. Be prepared to respond as much as possible.”
The speech ended with a reminder of the importance of levelling the playing field, and of no longer having ‘free riders’. “We have to make sure that imported products at least fulfil the same requirements as European products,” he said, referring in particular to the use of chemicals. How can this be achieved? Hélder Rosendo answers with the example of Oekotex certification, which has a ‘peer review’ system, that is, a double check where certifying bodies carry out random and occasional checks on products certified by others. The big problem is controlling products that go directly to the consumer’s home, due to the growth of e-commerce.