Unveiling the ‘Hidden Hope’ of Sustainable Practices in Cotton Industry

Central to the discourse was the theme of sustainability, with a critical examination of industry practices and forthcoming legislation. Analyst and author Veronica Bates-Kassatly shed light on the evolving regulatory landscape, highlighting the European Union's ambitious sustainability directives.

In her words: “The European Union's desire to build a greener fairer world is to be applauded. However, proposed legislation—including The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and The European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS)—must be able to demonstrate that it will achieve the stated objectives in a manner consistent with the EU's global commitments.”

As the industry braces for legislative changes, Bates-Kassatly emphasised the need for alignment with global commitments and the imperative of stakeholder engagement in shaping policy frameworks. She implored that we raise awareness and pay attention to the forthcoming legislation as it will impact millions of livelihoods. Of the 350 million people involved in cotton, over 50% of which are women, with 43% of cotton farmers also women, it is imperative to work in the field with farmers incorporating local and specific knowledge.

Further points raised in the global collection of data include the need for:

• harmonisation of data collection, standards, and processing;
• ensuring soil health and biodiversity are considered data points, collating from a network of systems including agriculture; the chemical industry, farmer and worker health and well-being.
• groups of organisations pooling science-based data is the key.

The discussion on sustainability extended to data analysis, with speakers scrutinising existing methodologies such as lifecycle assessments/analyses (LCAs) and demanding more scientific approaches. A strong need for more scientifically based measures was emphasised—and at scale.

Continuing the theme of critical data analysis, Klaus Steger, President of the International Wool Textile Organisation (IWTO), noted that: “A European Commission study from 2020 found that 53% of green claims made by textile companies are vague and misleading, while 40% were completely unsubstantiated. Clearly, something is off with our current textile foot printing methodology, and a cold and clinical look would be required to fix it”.

Steger compared fast fashion and plastics production today with the tobacco model in the 80’s. At first the tobacco magnates did their level best to belittle the dangers of smoking until the scientific evidence—and public sentiment—became so overwhelming that significant political measures were initiated. Laws were accepted to eliminate tobacco advertising; tobacco products were heavily taxed and the option to smoke in public places was restricted.  Public opinion and the societal swing moved against smoking. The tobacco industry also found itself at the receiving end of costly litigation—a scenario that Steger sees coming for plastics (polyester) production (and the problem of microplastics shedding) if it is not significantly reduced.

Sceptics among the speakers asked if ‘repair and reuse’ are truly effective—or do these measures merely have a psychological effect that make consumers feel better? Tensions continued to emerge between the desire for growth and the imperative to “do the right thing”. Some suggested that the industry look to some novel business models including:

• Qualitative growth rather than quantitative growth.
• Opensource data sharing.
• Deploying citizen scientists—for example, cotton farming communities collecting data to share on open source platforms for the benefit of all.

For example, Abhijeet Sharma of the BASF traceability platform introduced their publicly accessible ‘Seed2Sew’ mobile phone app which makes data input manageable. That said, the not-for-profit Better Cotton organisation lauded India for doing a good job in improving their cotton industry.

Amidst the complexities of data interpretation and regulatory compliance, the role of stakeholders emerged as a focal point for driving meaningful change. From the harmonisation of data collection standards to grassroots initiatives led by cotton farming communities, the conference highlighted the collaborative efforts needed to usher in a new era of sustainable textile production.

The conversation turned to the burgeoning field of textile recycling, with experts offering insights into the technological advancements and operational challenges. Pre-production (factory waste) recycling, they said, is not new to the spinning industry. But what is new is the need to scale up. Also new, is the post-consumer waste imperative. According to Silke Huertos-Lopez from Saurer Spinning Solutions discussing turning recycled materials into yarn, in principle, all fibres can be recycled and re-spun. Huertos-Lopez said: “Yarn producers need to rethink their business models as yarns are required to include recycled fibres in the future. Although the use of recycling in spinning mills has a long history, today´s ultra-short fibres are pushing machines to their limits. This "recycling extreme" is the new challenge for the textile industry. We don’t have to invent recycling, we have to modernise it.”

Overview

Although nominally an international conference, the 37th International Cotton Conference presentations were permeated with initiatives from the host country. Germany’s industry is doing what it does best with its chemical and engineering industries developing and creating scientific research on the recycling of fibres, yarns and finished textiles.

Echoing the symbolic representations of the mosaics in the foyer of the Cotton Exchange building depicting the far-flung locations of industry collaborations in the 19^th century, chemical and mechanical industries are partnering today in comparable initiatives. An impressive number of successful collaborations between university labs, researchers, trade associations, ‘green’ financiers, and big industry, augurs a landscape offering hope that serious, scalable solutions are already available, or will be imminently.

Importantly bringing the right fibres to the right industries is the initial goal according to Michael Will of machine manufacturer Rieter AG. This effectively represents the first iteration of the closed loop process.

As the textiles industry charts its course towards sustainability, challenges abound, from regulatory compliance to operational intricacies. The philosophy behind sustainability, and regulations underpinning circularity is clear in the minds of most. But operational costs are less clear not to mention the testing, scientific data collection methods, and quality aspects.  These are the areas the industry is now focussing on.

Amidst the complexities, there lies a beacon of hope—a collective commitment to forging a more sustainable future for generations to come. The 37th International Cotton Conference served as a catalyst for dialogue and action—although at times tense—laying the groundwork for a transformative journey towards sustainable textile practices.