1st- 5th July 2024
Ecotextile News
The purpose-led multimedia news platform for sustainability in the global fashion and textile industry.
We’ve reached the end of yet another great week here at Ecotextile News! You can view all of this week’s stories over at https://www.ecotextile.com/news/ but for now sit back, relax and let us catch you up with our hand-picked selection of the most important stories of the week????
Monday
??On Monday we announced that campaigners are claiming a "landmark victory" after a court ruled that the UK National Crime Agency (NCA) ’s refusal to investigate forced labour links to cotton imported from China was unlawful.
GLAN | Global Legal Action Network and the World Uyghur Congress said the Court of Appeal decision could lead to brands and retailers facing charges under the Proceeds of Crime Act if they are found to be importing goods made with forced labour.
??We also revealed that fashion house founder Stella McCartney has called on the international designer community to sign PETA ’s new ‘Feather-Free’ pledge, commiting to never use feathers again in their collections.
Following exposés by PETA revealing that birds exploited by the feather industry endure what it calls “a miserable life and a violent death”, the new social media campaign shows McCartney highlighting the suffering, whilst urging designers to recreate the look, lightness, movement, and insulation of feathers with vegan materials.
Tuesday
??On Tuesday we released a new EcotextileTalks podcast episode??
Fresh from his high-profile appearance at a recent US Congressional-Executive Commission on China hearing, Scott Nova , Executive Director of the Workers Rights Consortium in Washington DC, gave Ecotextile Talks a hard-hitting interview questioning the reliability of social compliance audits in China’s textile sector.?
He explained to host Philip Berman how the WRC first began investigating the use of forced labour in Xinjiang when it emerged that US brand Badger Sports was sourcing university garments from a factory inside an internment camp in the region.
??We also announced that researchers have suggested for the first time that PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances), dubbed ‘forever’ chemicals, can be absorbed through human skin.
The study, titled ‘Dermal bioavailability of perfluoroalkyl substances using in vitro 3D human skin equivalent models’,? tested a range of synthetic PFAS and claims that a majority can permeate the skin barrier and reach the bloodstream.
Wednesday
??On Wednesday we revealed that a landmark bill to implement an extended producer responsibility framework and ramp up textile recycling in California has passed a key stage following a 9-3 approval from the state assembly’s Natural Resources Committee.
As outlined in his recent video interview with Ecotextile News, the bill, SB-707, was brought to the California State Senate by senator Josh Newman as a lever to combat linear fashion business models.
??We were also met with the surprising news that the CEO of the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), who has been at the heart of controversial proposals to expand the use of carbon credits to offset CO2 emissions, has stepped down for "personal reasons".
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Luiz Amaral will stand down at the end of this month to be replaced on an interim basis by the organisation's current chief legal officer Susan Jenny Ehr , confirmed an SBTi statement.
Thursday
??On Thursday we released a new Ecotextile News exclusive video which looks at how memes are being used on social media to call out brands on issues such as greenwashing and pinkwashing??
Bogu Gojd? , who works for Clean Clothes Campaign ’s international office as a public outreach co-ordinator, explains how and why the organisation is using these social media posts to tackle corporations’ bad practice.
??We also announced that researchers at the University of Delaware are working on a new chemical recycling technology for use on blended textiles and garments.
The process, known as ‘microwave-assisted, heat-based glycolysis’, has been created to address the challenges presented by mixed textile waste which, says the research team, often requires costly sorting and separation stages.
Friday
??Today, we revealed that what is claimed to be the world's first supply chain for more sustainable polyester fibre - based on captured CO2 emissions, as well as renewable and bio-based materials - has been established to supply outerwear brand The North Face .
A consortium of seven companies across five countries has jointly established the supply chain to develop polyester without the use of fossil fuels for the VF Corporation -owned brand.
??Finally we reported that the Canadian government has launched a public consultation to address plastic waste and pollution from the textile and apparel sector.
Outlining a number of measures the government could implement, Steven Guilbeault , Minister of Environment and Climate Change, is seeking feedback on the development of a roadmap to address plastic waste and pollution from the industry.
??We hope you’ve enjoyed this week’s briefing, don’t forget to subscribe!??
??Don’t forget to check out our new podcast episode: https://www.ecotextile.com/2024070132233/labels-legislation-news/can-we-trust-textile-factory-audits-in-china.html?
??And our new exclusive video: https://www.ecotextile.com/videos/video-fighting-greenwashing-and-pinkwashing-with-memes.html
Founder of Wear We Are Journal, Student of Fashion Business at Polimoda
4 个月Always a pleasure to read and catch up with this week’s news!