PRESS RELEASE

Important news related to sustainability and circularity in the textile industry come from the 61st edition of Filo, which has opened today at Allianz MiCo Milan. Indeed, during the opening ceremony, Elena Chiorino, councillor for Education and Merit, Employment and Training of Piedmont Region, has announced that the Ministry for Environment and Energy Security approved the Recycling Hub project in Biella district. Councillor Chiorino explains: “We are living in a world claiming for reducing waste, and Biella is ready to make available its unique knowledge related to textile industry and its excellent expertise as far as innovation is concerned. The Recycling Hub project is not just a great employment opportunity for the territory, but it also reflects the idea of a Green economy, which should be pursued: protecting the environment and fostering industrial sector are not in opposition. Quite to the contrary, these two concepts can – and must – become a stimulus for our economy. Thanks to their history and their great skills in research field, the region of Piedmont and the territory of Biella must foster one kind of environmental sustainability which is synonymous with economic and social sustainability. The Recycling Hub is paving the same way.”

The comments by Paolo Monfermoso, responsible for Filo, are positive too: “For long time, Filo has known that textile industry’s future is not possible without the strong commitment towards a kind of production process which is more sustainable in relation to environment and society, as proven by FiloFlow, the Filo’s project dedicated to sustainability. This is the reason why we are particularly pleased that Biella’s Recycling Hub is taking a step forward here, at Filo, since it is based on the collaboration between institutional and industrial players, and it is oriented to effective solutions for real and urgent challenges faced by the companies working in this field, in line with the approach pursued by Filo in all its activities.”

The inauguration ceremony of the 61st edition of Filo has also featured the round table entitled “Circular economy in textile, apparel and fashion industry: the thread of circularity”, moderated by Giusy Bettoni, CEO and founder of CLASS.

During the debate, Sergio Tamborini, President of SMI Sistema Moda Italia, has described the commitment of the Association in rethinking the industry of fashion to make it increasingly circular, explaining both vision and operational aspects of Retex.Green Consortium, also considering the most recent European and national law: “Sustainability is a paramount issue and it is related to the growing size of global consumption in textile and apparel industry, which is the first world economy in terms of workers and turnover. Building an alternative supply chain -based on recycling – is the only way forward, and the Italian consortia are waiting to be operative, provided that EPR regulations enable them to be operative. SMI has immediately started working on pre-consumer textiles with Retex.Green, the consortium of manufacturers, which is one of the first groups that started operating in Italy and chose not to have any own facility dedicated to recycling, to be totally transparent. Experiences such as the Biella Recycling Hub can represent an important support to the Consortia, waiting to become fully operational once the EU regulations have been adopted by the Italian legislator.”

Paolo Barberis Canonico, Vice President of the Unione Industriale Biellese, interpreted the point of view of the companies, by highlighting the opportunities for Recycling Hub’s development: “Our goal is creating a hub for transformation, research, collection and re-use of textile materials to create a real advantage for textile industry, in relation to both the environment and the efficiency, by using less resources and waste. To do that, we have found strategic partners in A2A and, in a broader sense, in the Biella’s district as a whole, because it represents the perfect place where to cooperate in terms of innovation for the circularity of textile industry along the supply chain, including machinery manufacturers.”.

Marco Farina, responsible for Project Assessment and Development for A2A Ambiente, said: “We have chosen to be a partner in the Recycling Hub project to make our consolidated experience in the circular economy available to the Biella area and contribute to the creation of a new recycling supply chain in the textile sector. Currently, waiting for more clarity regarding the law which regulates this topic, as A2A we are identifying the best technology available for selecting materials to recycle, with the aim of testing a pilot plant over the next 24 months.”

Giovanni Marchi, President of MagnoLab, focused on the need for cooperating in a well-organised way to develop innovation, research, and projects related to sustainability and to circular economy, stating: “MagnoLab is a supply chain R&D hub, specifically designed to share the expertise of the different steps of the supply chain to foster both research and innovation, starting from the process to develop them. Within our network, there are companies belonging to different sectors, but each can play an important part, according to its specifications. Therefore, the goal is to strengthen the network between companies and other players working for the industry’s development and the entire industrial sector, with the common aim of developing new processes for the circular economy.”

The video of the event is available here.

The 61st edition of Filo takes place on the 28th and 29th of February 2024 at Allianz MiCo – Milan Convention Centre (via Gattamelata 5).
Biella, 28 February 2024

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