Preconsumer Textile Waste - Recycling in Production Countries

by Asian Dialogues on Sustainability in the Textile and Garment Sector created 2022-09-08T11:55:01+07:00

Hybrid Conference ‘’Asian Dialogues for Greener Production’’ | Workshop

It is estimated that approximately 10-20% of textiles are wasted during garment manufacture, with upwards of 25% in extreme cases. This wastage provides the industry with a significant opportunity to reduce waste via recycling.

Concurrently, there is an increased appetite among consumers for clothing made from upcycled waste, and the EU Green Deal (particularly the Strategy for Sustainable Textiles) should see retailers and designers change direction to meet new demand. With Asia accounting for around one-third of the world’s clothing exports, the opportunity to reuse waste is considerable. There has been increasing interest over the last decade in developing recycling schemes in Asia where cutting waste is collected, recycled, and reused as raw material for new production.

In this session, attendees will hear from participants involved in proof-of-concept projects seeking to determine the best ways to approach recycling in a range of Asian production countries. The workshop is moderated by Massimiliano Tropeano, Integrated Expert at EuroCham Cambodia/GIZ.

SPEAKERS

Edwin Keh, MH, Chief Executive Officer, The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel

Edwin had a career as senior executive with several international consumer goods and retail companies. He was granted a number of awards, including the Medal of Honor in 2020 by the HKSAR Government for his research work during the pandemic, one of the best of Top 50 Innovative Retail Leaders by Inside Retail Hong Kong in 2019. Edwin holds multiple IPs which won global invention awards. He also teaches supply chain operations in the Operations, Information and Decisions Department of the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Burcu Tuncer, Senior Manager and Co-Lead Circular Economy, Adelphi

Burcu has 20 years of experience in developing and implementing sustainable consumption and production (SCP) projects in South and South East Asia, Middle East and North Africa. She currently works on promoting and monitoring circular economy practices in global agri-food, textile and plastic value chains. Lately, she also acts as the Team Leader of the GIZ GAIN textile waste reduction and revalorisation project at El-Hassan Industrial Estate in Irbid, Jordan.

Vidiya Amrit Khan, Deputy Managing Director, Desh Ventures Limited

Ms Khan has over 15 years of experience in the garment and textile sector and pioneer of the 100% export oriented readymade garment industry in Bangladesh. Ms Khan has established herself as one of the leading names in Bangladesh’s RMG industry as a second generation female entrepreneur. In 2021 she got elected to be part of the Board of Directors at the BGMEA for 2ndtime and is currently in charge of the Circular Fashion Partnership.

Harshitha Venati, Programme Manager, Reverse Resources

As a Programme Manager, Harshitha manages global impact projects and is responsible for synthesizing programme learnings and accordingly aligning RR's digital tools and services with the business needs. In her past roles, she was an entrepreneur in the packaging products' manufacturing sector and also an investment banker in the impact investing space.