New report highlights the huge potential of manmade fibers such as viscose, modal and lyocell to create a more sustainable future, and outlines a sector-wide vision that could revolutionize multiple industries.
Major industry players and stakeholders in the man-made cellulosic fibers
(MMCF) value chain have today revealed an ambitious shared vision for
unleashing the fibers’ huge potential for embedding long-term resilience into
the industry.
The MMCF 2030
Vision,
co-authored by Forum for the Future and Textile Exchange, outlines how
the MMCF value chain can transform the textile and apparel sectors while
building on existing standards; and the progress already being driven by
existing industry initiatives to address specific social and environmental
issues. It calls on businesses and industry actors — from apparel and personal
care brands to fiber producers — to align and act collaboratively to build a
resilient industry that helps regenerate producer communities and the planet at
the same time.
After cotton, man-made cellulosic fibers are the second-biggest cellulosic fiber
group in use — for everything from apparel to seat covers to wet wipes. Responsibly produced, they can be a major contributor to
realizing circular
fashion
— by helping to regenerating ecosystems, providing vital carbon sinks, and
increasing community resilience and prosperity.
“The MMCF sector is facing significant social and environmental challenges,
including deforestation, chemical use and labour rights. The COVID-19
crisis is intensifying
these challenges,” said Forum for the Future CEO Dr. Sally Uren. “While
progress is being made on traceability, innovation and sourcing practice,
opportunities for deeper, systemic change are being lost in the absence of a
holistic approach to addressing these interrelated challenges within the full
value chain. By aligning behind a shared vision for a resilient and sustainable
industry, the MMCF industry could lead the transformation of the apparel and
textile sector, as well as make a positive contribution to other industries that
source these versatile fibers. We now invite actors from across the industry to
explore how they will work together to achieve this vision.”
Aligning Value Management and Regenerative Practices
Join us as Regenovate co-founders Chris Grantham and Adam Lusby lead an interactive workshop on how to rethink value in the context of regenerative innovation by linking value to the dividends and resilience that come to an organization from enhancing system health — Thurs, May 9, at Brand-Led Culture Change.
The new vision builds on the work of environmental NGO Canopy’s CanopyStyle
initiative,
which now comprises over 200 major fashion brands and textile suppliers working
to eliminate their use of fibers from ancient and endangered forests, and
developing forest-free alternatives to nylon and
viscose;
as well as technologies from other industry innovators created to extend the
life
and
recyclability
of plant-based fibers. In January, Canopy also released a comprehensive plan to
save the world’s forests and
climate
by removing 50 percent of the forest fiber from textile and paper manufacturing,
and replacing it with next-generation alternative fibers such as agricultural
residues and waste cotton textiles. According to the report, doing so will
enable 30 percent of the world’s forests to be conserved — and avert the climate
and biodiversity catastrophe — by 2030.
The MMCF 2030 Vision builds on those efforts by setting out five interrelated areas for
ambitious and collaborative action throughout the fiber lifecycle — from raw
material sourcing and fiber production, to disposal and re-use — to help move
the sector forward at the pace and scale needed, and stimulate new kinds of
partnerships and investment:
-
Regenerating ecosystems: Restoring natural ecosystems and ensuring a
carbon-negative value chain
-
Producing with zero harm: Eliminating hazardous
chemicals, enabling
zero emissions and closed-loop production
systems
-
Enabling circular systems: Designing, incentivizing and implementing
circular value chains and zero
waste
-
Creating prosperity: Distributing economic value equitably; applying
living wages, universal access to education & healthcare
-
Upholding rights: Community empowerment and related access rights;
protecting the rights of individuals, indigenous peoples and other
communities
The vision sets out the activities required to deliver the ambition within each
of the five areas, commentary on where challenges exist, and critical enabling
factors needed for delivery.
The vision will be taken forward by the industry and facilitated through
the Textile Exchange MMCF Round
Table, which will
then convene in early November to share progress on aspects of the plan.
Read more about the MMCF 2030
Vision
…
Published Jun 17, 2020 8am EDT / 5am PDT / 1pm BST / 2pm CEST
Sustainable Brands Staff