Under The Circular Economy, How Does The Industry Supply Chain Fulfill Its Responsibilities? This Meeting Gives The Answer!

At present, the textile and clothing industry is preparing for the transformation of circular economy. China has promised to achieve a 25% recycling rate of waste textiles by 2025, and the EU has implemented the Regulations on Ecological Design of Sustainable Products. The transformation of the industry to a circular business model will be subject to more and more supervision. How to promote the textile industry towards a sustainable and circular economy future through multi stakeholder dialogue is particularly important.

On October 24, the "Textile Industry Supply Chain Due Diligence and Circular Economy Symposium" was held in Shaoxing. The meeting discussed and exchanged views on how to apply social and environmental due diligence in the supply chain to the textile cycle and various links of the industrial chain. More than 160 representatives from international organizations, industry associations, domestic and foreign enterprises and academia attended the conference.

Liang Xiaohui, chief researcher of the Social Responsibility Office of the China Textile Industry Federation, presided over the meeting. He said that the circular economy has expanded the supply chain of the textile and clothing industry. Various changes have taken place in the form of practitioners and cooperation from the former raw materials, production end to the middle circulation end and the latter consumption end, which also brings new opportunities and challenges for the textile and clothing industry to promote a more responsible and sustainable circular economy.

Multi party construction to guide harmonious transformation

Yan Yan, Vice President of the China Textile Industry Federation, said in his speech that with the introduction of more circular technologies and processes in the textile industry and the continuous development of circular economy, new participants and processes will be incorporated into a broader supply chain, and new business relationships and processes related to circular economy will bring additional environmental and social risks. It is necessary for the industry to re-examine the upstream and downstream of enterprise activities and their social and environmental responsibilities, carry out due diligence management, and all stakeholders also need to cooperate to manage the risks associated with the extension of the supply chain.

She pointed out that to achieve a harmonious transformation and promote the coordinated development of the environment and society, it is not only necessary for enterprises to improve their own strategies and constantly explore the practical application and related risk governance under the circular economy model, but also necessary for domestic and foreign policy makers to guide the harmonious transformation, strengthen the in-depth communication of stakeholders, and promote the effective cooperation of the industry in the field of circular economy.

Chen Jun, deputy head of Keqiao District, Shaoxing, said in his speech that with the further implementation of the concept of sustainable development in the global textile supply chain, circular economy is gradually becoming the mainstream model of industrial development. The market practitioners are making continuous efforts and reaching a clear consensus: in the whole product cycle, from raw material production to product marketing, from production to recycling, and from the whole chain, the most appropriate sustainable production mode is used to minimize the damage to the environment and society.

He pointed out that at present, more and more traditional textile enterprises in Keqiao are undergoing green transformation. In the future, Keqiao will fully support the development of textile circular economy, encourage enterprises to improve the ESG risk management capability of the supply chain, strengthen upstream and downstream collaboration of the supply chain, and jointly build a low-carbon, responsible and sustainable textile and clothing supply chain by building a responsible management system, carrying out risk management, information disclosure and transparency improvement.

Strengthen exchanges and jointly promote responsible development

"Responsible business behavior is becoming the premise of sustainable future development and market standard." Tamas Hajba, the representative of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in China, shared the shares under the title of "OECD Standards for Responsible Business Behavior and Cooperation with China". He said that the OECD Guide to Responsible Business Conduct for Multinational Enterprises is a proposal made by governments to multinational enterprises, aiming to enhance the contribution of enterprises to sustainable development. Over the years, OECD has cooperated with China Textile Confederation to promote responsible business practices in the industry, and helped enterprises enhance their ability of responsible management in operation and supply chain, so as to ensure responsible business activities and sustainable and stable cross-border supply chain.

He pointed out that the challenges facing the development of the industry today are even greater than those ten years ago. In this regard, he called for strengthening international cooperation and exchange among industries in the context of circular economy, making new commitments to responsible development of the industry and promoting industrial economic development through joint efforts.

Policy interpretation and insight into new industry trends

"The textile circular supply chain has been extended, with many participants, and the brand side has become an important role in the implementation of the green circular policy." Wen Zongguo, a professor and doctoral supervisor of the School of Environment of Tsinghua University, shared the topic of "Circular Economy Policy and Textile Supply Chain Expansion and New Challenges". He pointed out that the international community has increasingly strict requirements on textile ecological design and supply chain circular economy performance evaluation standards, and it is more difficult for enterprises to implement the contract. In recent years, with the increasingly clear objectives of China's textile recycling policy, the policy layout has become more systematic. However, due to various factors, the recycling rate of waste textiles is low. Among them, enterprises have challenges in circular and transparent supply chain management, sustainable ecological product design, and promoting circular economy performance evaluation of the whole supply chain.

"In order to better promote the development of circular economy, we can start with legislation to promote the development of the supply chain in a green direction." Maya Schwiegershausen - G ü th, Counsellor for Social and Labour Affairs of the German Embassy, shared the topic of "German Supply Chain Responsible Legislation and Its Requirements and Implications for Circular Economy". She said that at present, Germany's supply chain due diligence management is constantly improving and adjusting. Relevant laws and regulations will have an impact on supply chain management, which can promote the development of supply chain management in a more green and sustainable direction.

Sachi Claringbould (Kang Ruxing), Deputy Consul General of the Royal Dutch Consulate General in Shanghai, shared the topic of "Netherlands Responsible Business Conduct Policy - A Smart Combination of Mandatory and Voluntary Policies". She said that the Dutch policy of responsible business conduct has an important impact on the textile industry. As a major textile export country, China occupies an important position in the global market. The relevant EU legislation has increasingly significant impact on Chinese textile enterprises. The Dutch government appeals to and supports the stakeholders in the industry to work together to carry out dutiful management of the value chain. The Netherlands RBC (Responsible Business Conduct) Support Office can more effectively help textile enterprises to carry out due diligence management and obtain more information and support.

"The key to achieving circular development is to reduce the use of resources and pursue the long service life, renewability, reusability, repairability, substitutability and upgradeability of resources and value-added products." United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) Lin Kaixin, Climate and Environment Project Specialist of the Office of China Unicom, shared the topic of "Circular Economy of the United Nations Global Compact GDI FOR SDG Project: Policy Trends and Enterprise Practice". She said that the GDI FOR SDG project, which was launched based on the concept of circular economy, aims to promote mutual cooperation and resource integration between different industry sectors, promote resource recovery and reuse, seek alternative material innovation, and explore a sustainable business model oriented by market demand and consumers.

The stone from other mountains leads the demonstration

"In order to build a sustainable future together, H&M promises to reduce absolute carbon emissions by 56% by 2030 and achieve net zero emissions by 2040. Among them, by 2030, the supply chain will reach 100% renewable electricity and 100% renewable or other sustainable sources of materials. " Xu screen, vice president of H&M partnership and public affairs, shared the topic of Supply Chain Collaboration to Promote Textile Recycling in combination with H&M innovation practice. She first introduced the EU's sustainable and circular textile strategy and other policies and regulations, and pointed out that with the successive introduction of EU policies, China's textile supply chain should accelerate carbon emission reduction. To achieve sustainable development, H&M not only empowers and leads the whole process, but also provides investment and financing support for green transformation.

"Only by constantly increasing cooperation with suppliers can we better jointly promote the sustainable development of the supply chain." Li Xiaoming, senior manager of PUMA environmental sustainability, shared the topic of "Practice and Experience of PUMA's Circular Economy". He introduced that in order to transition from a linear business model to a circular economy, PUMA adopted a comprehensive circular policy in 2021, formulated 28 sub goals on recycling, and established a recycling laboratory. Through relevant standards and multi-party cooperation, PUMA and suppliers have effectively promoted the sustainable development of the supply chain.

"At present, the company is focusing on the development of the next generation of renewable fiber, hoping to attract more producers, recyclers and upstream and downstream supply chains to participate together to complete the big closed-loop of circular economy." Huang Wenbin, director of sustainable development of Sideli, shared the topic of "Building China's textile industry circular supply chain". He said that Sedley, as the world's largest producer of recycled cellulose fibers, has been focusing on the implementation of the concept of sustainable development, and has developed a number of products that can meet the needs of circular economy. Sedley has also been paying attention to the recovery of post consumer textiles. In particular, the majority of people engaged in the recovery process are self-employed, and they are generally facing the dilemma of poor working conditions and health and safety. To solve this problem, it is more necessary to cooperate with the whole industry chain to provide labor security for relevant personnel.

"Plastic pollution, climate change and biodiversity are the three major global public environmental problems. In the textile industry, the utilization rate of materials is less than 3%, and the recycling market potential of waste textiles is huge." Duan Wuhai, head of the Innovation Research Institute of Zhejiang Jiaren New Materials Co., Ltd., titled "High value application of ten thousand tons of waste textiles to help low-carbon development", It was shared in combination with enterprise development. He introduced that Jaren's adoption of molecular level recycling technology not only realized the high value application of waste polyester recycling, but also achieved 60% - 70% carbon emission reduction compared with the original materials. At present, Jaren has achieved the first chemical method to regenerate 10000 tons of mass production, and launched the "T2T" cycle for the first time in China, so as to prevent new fossil energy from entering the supply chain to a greater extent.

Cooperation and win-win new future

The textile circular economy will have a profound impact on many stakeholders. All parties need to cooperate to manage the risks associated with the extension of the supply chain and promote the development of circular economy. At the round table dialogue session of "Supply Chain Extension and Multi party Cooperation of Textile Circular Economy", Wen Zongguo, the professor and doctoral supervisor of the School of Environment of Tsinghua University, Marc Beckmann, director of the FABRIC project of the German International Cooperation Agency (GIZ), Ni Mengwei, policy researcher of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Ren Wenwei, director of the Shanghai regional project of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Sun Lirong, LCA Research Director of the Social Responsibility Office of the China Textile Industry Federation, Wu Dejun, FSC China Market Development Director, and other guests discussed the extension changes of the traditional textile supply chain caused by the circular economy, and how the extension of the textile circular economy supply chain affects the interests, risks and responsibilities of all parties, And how domestic and foreign policy makers can promote effective cooperation in the field of circular economy.

Marc Beckmann said that the practice of sustainable trade is the result of the exchange between various stakeholders and producers. To promote due diligence management, we must increase cooperation, especially between supply chain stakeholders and leading enterprises. At the same time, we should accelerate the introduction of standards and strengthen the capacity building of the whole supply chain.

Ni Mengwei said that although many practices of the textile industry's circular economy chain are still in the initial stage, these fields will usher in growth and development in the next few years. OECD will prepare relevant guidance manuals to provide enterprises with comprehensive support from risk assessment to remedial measures, so as to help enterprises overcome the complex challenges in transition and promote the industry to move towards a more responsible circular economy model.

Ren Wenwei said that facing the extension of the supply chain brought about by the circular economy, enterprises should pay attention to their own transformation, focus on the construction of ESG, and cooperate with the industrial chain to cope with it. At the same time, we should strengthen our understanding of the EU and other international policies and regulations to reduce potential risks. In the future, WWF will continue to work with China Textile Federation to increase cooperation and jointly promote sustainable development of the industry.

Wu Dejun said that enterprises need more policy oriented and environment oriented support. With the help of various tools, it can help textile industry practitioners avoid the risks caused by transformation, or other risks caused by the extension of the industrial chain. In addition, the development of circular economy needs to establish unified standards and solutions.

Sun Lirong said that in the practice of promoting sustainable development and circular economy, the textile industry is facing multiple challenges, such as the protection of the rights and interests of all relevant parties in the recycling process, the formulation of DPP standards, micro plastics and chemical pollutants. To solve these problems, not only technological innovation is required, but also the sharing of environmental responsibilities needs to be clarified. In the future, establishing a multi-dimensional evaluation system for recycled textiles will be the key direction.

Activity summary

At the end of the activity, Vice President Yan Yan summed up his speech with three keywords: conscientiousness, innovation and cooperation. She said that due diligence is the core theme of today's meeting. Through sharing, we not only saw the attitude of the international community and governments in promoting supply chain due diligence, but also helped enterprises understand policy trends, prepare in advance, and improve supply chain due diligence, which is forward-looking and leading. Secondly, the brave exploration of the enterprise has put forward new solutions for the textile cycle, which is very innovative and representative. Thirdly, in the face of the development opportunities and challenges brought by the circular economy to the industry, it is very timely and necessary for all stakeholders to strengthen cooperation and jointly promote the transformation of the whole industry chain to the circular economy. In the future, the China Textile Industry Federation will continue to work with all parties to jointly promote the green transformation and sustainable development of the textile industry.

Circular economy has become a development path universally recognized by the international community. The successful holding of this conference not only provides a valuable exchange platform for the textile industry, but also injects new impetus into the development of the textile circular economy, marking a solid step forward for the textile industry in promoting the circular economy. It is believed that with the joint efforts of all parties, the textile industry will usher in a more green, responsible and sustainable future.

(Source: China Textile Federation Social Responsibility Office)