MILAN – Delegates to Planet Textiles in June will hear from apparel industry leaders about how to catalyse investments in order to support climate goals; greenwashing and the EU proposal on substantiating claims; closing the loop on circularity; LCA data collection; and to what extent textile microfibre release is a problem.

With the decarbonisation of textile supply chains becoming ever more urgent, speakers at the event will include Richard Wielechowski, senior investment analyst at Planet Tracker and Vidhura Ralapanawe, executive vice president at Hong Kong-based apparel supplier Epic Group. These will be joined by Giovanni Zenteno, director of sustainable finance at the Apparel Impact Institute, to explore how the fashion industry can hit its publicly stated climate targets.

The textile industry has a huge role to play in accelerating collective action on climate and drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In order to meet its target to cut emissions in half by 2030, the fashion industry will need to spend billions of dollars on new technologies and solutions. But where will this finance come from? And where should it be used most effectively?

Organised by the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, Planet Textiles will take place from 12 – 13 June at ITMA 2023 – the world’s largest international textile and garment technology exhibition – in Milan, Italy. You can register to attend Planet Textiles by CLICKING HERE. 

Other talks at the event include a session billed as the answer to greenwashing practices: discussing the EU proposal on substantiating green, which will be moderated by Elisabeth von Reitzenstein, senior director of public affairs, Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC).

Other speakers include Delman Lee, vice chair, of Hong Kong apparel firm TAL Group; Pascal Brun, head of sustainability at H&M and Sean Cady, vice president, global sustainability, responsibility, and trade at VF Corporation – the owners of North Face, Vans, Timberland, and others.

Sophie Mather, founding director at The Microfibre Consortium will look at the impact of textile fibre fragmentation and release on the environment and will ask the question: is this a problem?

There are several sessions on the ‘data of sustainability’ with a contribution from Jöel Mertens, director of Higg Index product tools, SAC on life cycle assessment (LCA) data collection in the supply chain: “Why it Matters and What it Means for Manufacturers.”

Edward Pavia, senior project manager at ToxServices will chair a session on navigating the sea of textile and apparel certifications and chemical inventory tools: ‘steering clear of toxins and beyond’.

Meanwhile, Nienke Steen, global lead apparel, textiles, and footwear at Cradle-to-Cradle Product Innovation Institute will also moderate a session on closing the loop: “Circularity for Systemic Change.”

This will be the 11th edition of Planet Textiles, run in partnership with MCL News and Media, publisher of Ecotextile News, and the first time it has been held over two days. It comes four years after the previous edition of this annual event, in Barcelona in 2019, and after a hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.