#Raw Materials

2024-03-14

Annual Member Meeting in India highlights future opportunities

(c) 2024 Better Cotton - Location: New Delhi, India, 2024. Description: Audience at Better Cotton India Annual Member Meeting.

Better Cotton hosted its latest India Annual Member Meeting at the end of February – welcoming around 150 Members and stakeholders from across India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates.

Held in conjunction with global textile expo Bharat Tex, in New Delhi, the meeting gave retailers and brands, civil society organisations, suppliers and manufacturers, spinners, fabric mills and cotton traders the opportunity to connect with Better Cotton, learn about trends and projects guiding the organisation, and network with peers.

A keynote speech from Mithileshwar Thakur, Secretary General of the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) – part of India’s Ministry of Textiles – set the scene with a focus on the government’s ambitions of advancing India’s cotton sustainability credentials, and its work to increase exports into the global fashion and textile markets.

Member companies and organisations – including IKEA and the Welspun Group – also spoke, highlighting success stories which included the latter’s WelKrishi Programme and its goal to boost uptake of more sustainable agricultural practices among cotton farmers.

A series of sessions led by Better Cotton staff followed, with updates on:

Better Cotton’s 2030 Strategy, the India programme and supply chain engagement, by Jyoti Narain Kapoor, Director of Better Cotton’s India Programme
The organisation’s traceability solution, by Manish Gupta, Supply Chain Manager of Better Cotton’s India Programme
Better Cotton’s India Impact Report 2014-2023 results, our approach to data analysis and positive changes on cotton farms, by Vidyun Rathore, Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning Coordinator
The changing legislative landscape and how it’s set to impact members, by Eva Benavidez Clayton, Senior Director of Membership & Supply Chain
Better Cotton’s ambitions to improve farmer remuneration via new financing mechanisms, by Lars van Doremalen, Director of Impact

ALLIED expands down traceability with lot-level carbon footprint data

ALLIED Feather + Down has expanded its TrackMyDown traceability platform to include validated cradle-to-gate carbon footprint data linked to individual down lots. The initiative is designed to provide brands and consumers with more detailed environmental information on the materials used in finished products and could also support future data requirements associated with Digital Product Passports.

ICAC’s 84th Plenary Meeting to be held March 24-26, 2027, in Alexandria, Egypt

Registration will soon be open for the International Cotton Advisory Committee’s 84th Plenary Meeting, to be held March 24-26, 2027, in Alexandria, Egypt. The local Organizing Committee in Egypt has chosen “Building a Resilient and Competitive Future for Cotton and Textiles” as the theme for the event, which will be held at the Rixos Montaza Alexandria Resort.

HeiQ & Archroma and Lenzing & Armedangels win ITMF International Collaboration Awards 2026

The International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) has named two industry partnerships as winners of the ITMF International Collaboration Awards 2026. The awards go to collaborations between HeiQ and Archroma as well as Lenzing and Armedangels, highlighting joint approaches to innovation and sustainability across different parts of the textile value chain.

180 years of TESTEX: From Zurich silk testing to global certification

For 180 years, TESTEX has developed alongside the textile industry while maintaining the same underlying purpose: creating trust through independent and reliable measurement. Founded in Zurich in 1846 as the Zurich Silk Conditioning Institute, TESTEX has grown from a local institution serving the silk trade into an international Swiss testing and certification institute for textiles and leather.

Moving Advanced Recycling from Innovation to Implementation

The Advanced Recycling Conference 2026 explores technologies, markets, financing and scale-up of innovative recycling solutions for waste streams including mixed plastic waste, textiles and PVC. Europe’s chemical and materials sector faces growing pressure to close carbon loops, strengthen raw-material safety and resilience and meet increasingly ambitious EU recycling targets. Against this backdrop, the Advanced Recycling Conference (ARC) will bring together industry leaders, technology providers, researchers, innovators and policy-makers on 17–18 November 2026 in Cologne, Germany.

German textile industry and retailers form alliance to shape textile EPR system

Germany’s textile and fashion industry and retail sector have joined forces to establish the “Alliance for Textile Circularity” (Allianz für textile Kreisläufe). Initiated by the German Textile and Fashion Industry Association (Gesamtverband textil+mode) and the German Retail Federation (HDE), the alliance aims to contribute industry expertise to the development of Germany’s future Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system for textiles and footwear.