Fibres and their sustainable and environmental issues – SDC webinar | SDC
New Sustainability Series: Fibres and their sustainable and environmental issues.
The first webinar in the SDC’s new Sustainability Series, covering the fashion and textile supply chain, focused on the theme of ‘Fibres and their sustainable and environmental issues.’
The three expert speakers were Meriel Chamberlin CCol ASDC, Founder of Full Circle Fibres, Anna Bateman of The Microfibre Consortium (TMC) and Phil Patterson, managing director of Colour Connections textile consultancy. The session looked at how the industry is tackling the environmental impact of fibres, and explored recent research.
The series was introduced by the SDC’s president, Ullhas Nimkar. Charles Ross, specialist in performance sportswear design and sustainable matters, chaired the discussion. Conversation was encouraged, with a number of questions raised from over 200 members and non-members joining the debate from across the world.
Meriel, a textile scientist based in Australia, has been a member of the SDC since being at University in Manchester in the mid-90s. She shared her journey to develop a sustainable supply chain for cotton. She discussed both the growing and further processing of cotton and how a singular model of impact to represent all cotton used in the supply chain cannot represent the reality using her own experience of growing and processing Australian cotton as the example.
Anna of The Microfibre Consortium (TMC) focused on how they together with their industry partners are tackling the issue of microfibre pollution within the fashion and textile industry. Since the launch of the roadmap in September 2021 this multi stakeholder initiative involving industry and academia aims to better understand and find ways of minimising the loss of microfibres from textiles as well as offering practical solutions both in testing microfibre shedding and reducing this in both industrial and domestic settings.
Phil discussed wet processing, comparing cotton and polyester. His expertise spans the textile industry, including research, manufacturing, and retail. When assessing environmental impact, he highlighted that the focus should be on reducing this across all textile processes, rather than on ‘fibre wars.’
He emphasised that one process or solution does not provide the whole answer and we are on a sustainability journey together. He indicated that the forthcoming EU Green Deal will have a significant impact worldwide, across global markets.
If you missed the first webinar in our new Sustainability Series and would like to find out more about fibres and their sustainable and environmental issues, you can access the recording, free of charge, here.