SATRA joins Ecotextyle programme

Reporting on a new European initiative for the footwear and textile industries.

Tom Bayes and John Hubbard from SATRA represented the UK at the first Ecotextyle meeting held jointly in the Spanish towns of Arnedo and Logroño, where they joined delegates from organisations based in Bulgaria, Italy, Poland, Slovenia and Spain. These six nations are working together in a new European initiative focused on environmental footprints in the footwear and textile production industries. This project is co-funded under the Erasmus+ programme of the European Commission.

Each team reported on the workshops they had held in the preceding months and the outcomes from these events. Over 20 members attended the SATRA workshop in January. The stimulating debate that took place identified that while many organisations were aware of the concepts of sustainability schemes, the detailed practical information related to their implementation was not clear, and further guidance would be welcomed. Many delegates commented that any training modules needed to be targeted towards infusing sustainability thinking throughout a whole organisation and into the supply chains – from designers, material specifiers and buyers right through to executive level.  

Following this feedback from the workshops, the Ecotextyle group identified a number of different modular learning units from which to create an online learning platform. This could be used to train and educate personnel on product environmental footprints in the footwear sector and the production of textile complements related to it. These modules are to be: i) product life-cycle analysis, ii) eco design, iii) environmental footprint, iv) eco labelling and v) product environmental footprint (PEF).

Delegates from each representative country will now work on one module each and reconvene in June 2018 at SATRA’s offices in Kettering to provide an update on their progress. Please visit www.ecotextyle.eu for further details.

The photograph above shows representatives of six countries at the ‘kick-off’ meeting in Spain.

Publishing Data

This article was originally published on page 6 of the April 2018 issue of SATRA Bulletin.

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