What is greenwashing and how do we spot it?
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This month’s Textile Exchange Conference in Pasadena, Los Angeles, was an important event in the ongoing transformation of the textile and apparel industry towards sustainable materials and practices, and Recover™ was proud to take part.
The conference provided a crucial platform for collaboration and highlighted critical initiatives aimed at making the textile supply chain more transparent, resilient, and responsible.
As exhibitors and speakers, we had the opportunity to engage with many change makers in the industry. Here are our key takeaways from the event:
New Standards and Matrixes
The recent launch of the Preferred Fiber and Materials Matrix (PFMM) was a notable introduction at the Textile Exchange Conference and a topic of discussion. The new tool will enable brands and retailers to assess fiber performance across various impact areas and aims to include branded fiber names, promoting transparency in the fiber supply chain. At Recover™, we contributed our Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) data for this project, underscoring our commitment to transparency and we are hopeful that Recover’s inclusion by name in the PFMM will help position us as a differentiated, low-impact fiber option within the sustainable materials landscape.
Textile Exchange also unveiled its “Materials Matter” Standard at the Conference, which is a new unified standard that aims to consolidate existing standards into a single, streamlined framework. This is expected to simplify sustainability criteria and improve consistency across the industry.
Regulatory alignment
It was evident that the industry is increasingly aligning its strategies with regulatory frameworks that promise to drive accountability and transparency, such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the EU taxonomy for sustainable activities. These frameworks are setting the foundation for future material standards and shaping regional initiatives, and industry leaders at the Conference underscored the importance of aligning with them.
Textile Exchange is also broadening its scope beyond cotton and polyester to include a wider range of primary fibers. This marks an important shift towards diversifying sustainable material options and is crucial to meet the growing market demand that will only increase once these regulations come into effect.
Supply and demand
Discussions around the demand and supply challenges for preferred materials showed two main areas of concern: cost and transparency. While the demand for sustainable materials is high, maintaining a consistent, affordable supply remains a challenge. The conference brought together industry leaders to discuss the challenges of maintaining a reliable supply of preferred materials at competitive costs and the available solutions. For Recover™, ensuring that our high-quality recycled cotton fiber remains accessible is a priority.
Collaborations for circularity
The conference featured several collaborative projects aimed at improving transparency and circularity across the supply chain. Among these were Circular Transition Indicators (CTI) and the Feedstock Mapping Project—the latter organized by Fashion for Good, Textile Exchange, and Reverse Resources, and in which Recover™ is a participant.
The Recover™ Presence
The Recover™ team, including Alfredo Ferre, Debbie Perlman, Fernando Arguelles and Ana Rodes, represented the company at the Conference, and were on hand at our exhibitor booth to explore collaborative opportunities to enable sustainable change. In the booth we displayed a wide variety of fabric and garment samples made with our recycled cotton fiber to show it's use across a broad range of applications.
Agents of Change
Our Head of Sustainability also participated in a plenary panel titled “What does equitable partnership look like in practice?”, during the event. The session focused on how we can work together to build true supply system partnerships, and it was inspiring to share the stage with diverse initiatives like Ambercycle as well as regenerative/organic cotton and wool farming projects.
“At Recover™, we believe that a good partnership builds transparent relationships that add value throughout the supply chain—from the producer to the end customer”
