TW Special Report

The “Sustainable Technologies” project, realized by ACIMIT, the Association of the Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers, starting from 2011, testifies the commitment of Italian manufacturers of textile machinery in the development of technological solutions to improve the environmental sustainability of their products.

The main output of the project is ACIMIT Green Label, a voluntary declaration of Italian textile machinery companies, which shows the energy and/or environmental performances of its machines. An international certification body, RINA, has validated the Green Label issuing process and evaluations it contains. Every year RINA verifies — on the 20 percent of the joined companies —  both the evaluation criteria and operating conditions of the machinery being assessed for the labeling process.

In recent years the companies involved in the project have implemented technological innovations on their machines with a resulting improvement from the point of view of energy and environment. Ninety percent of the Suppliers of Sustainable Technologies has made some innovations on their machines, with or without the Green Label. Of these, 48 percent have made changes across the overall portfolio. Technological areas in which companies have mainly invested concern: software — 19 percent of companies; mechanical components — 18 percent; and production process — 16 percent.

Moreover, data provided by companies allowed to calculate the impact generated by the project from. The analysis allowed to quantify the really achieved reduction of emissions of CO2 eq. generated from companies implementing technological innovations on their machines with the Green Label, improving their energy/environmental performance. In particular, it has been estimated a lower reduction of emissions of 221,181 tonn CO2 eq. over the previous year, equivalent to the carbon dioxide emissions generated by 38,534 cars driving (on average) 35,000 kilometers per year, or 23,306 world citizens per year.

Here are the key figures of the ACIMIT Green Label:

• 44 ACIMIT member companies joined the project;
• 1433 Green Labels were created from 2012 to present;
• 48 percent of the companies modified the Green Label machinery, in order to improve its energy/environmental performance, from 2015 to present;
• 55 percent of the companies plan to make other modifications on Green Label machinery, in order to improve its energy/environmental performance, during 2022;
• 34 percent of the machines reduced energy consumption;
• 5 inspections carried out by a third party (RINA) every year.

For more information visit https://www.green-label.it/en/.

This sponsored content was provided by the Italian Trade Agency (ITA).

June 14, 2022

TW Special Report

The Italian textile sector historically represents a benchmark in the world: from production to the finished product, the high quality standard and innovative technologies applied are the basis of an excellence recognized and appreciated globally.

The resulting competitiveness confirms the leadership of Made in Italy and demonstrates, for some time now, a commitment that goes beyond the market and looks to the future of the planet. An evolution that is the result of a constant search for innovative solutions, both on the strictly production level and on that of the environmental needs of a changing world.

It is with these premises that a virtuous plot is created, in which excellence and sustainability come together to chart new paths and redesign modernity. Green Label, signed by ACIMIT, is part of this transformation, promoting technological solutions that support the environment.

The reduction of hazardous substances in production processes, greater water savings and improved energy efficiency of production processes, as well as the recycling of materials that have reached the end of their useful life: these are the benefits of Green Label.

RINA, an international certification body, is responsible for validating the Green Label issuance process and its testing measures. On the basis of a standardized and certified procedure, RINA verifies both the way in which are measured and the operating conditions of the machines being labelled. Certification makes the above aspects concrete and achievable, enabling a process that allows companies to grow, becoming even more competitive and continuing to confirm the Italian leadership of the entire textile machinery sector.

The technology innovations implemented by Italian manufacturers involved in the project within their machines translate, as well as benefits in terms of environmental impact (reduction of emissions of CO2 eq. of the sample machine in use phase), also in economic benefits for the customers of our companies. The saving for the users of green-labelled textile machines was calculated by RINA on the information provided by the database of the Green Labels and on the quantity of material processed by the sample machine defined by each manufacturers. As regards the energy consumption the reduction also reaches 30 percent. As for the water consumption in the finishing sector the reduction is on average 27 percent.

Therefore, the use of green-labelled Italian machinery makes possible a win-win situation with clear economic and environmental benefits for both Italian manufacturers and their textile customers.

For more information visit https://www.green-label.it/en/.

This sponsored content was provided by the Italian Trade Agency (ITA).

May 25, 2022

TW Special Report

Regeneration, along with a commitment towards limiting wasted resources by optimizing every phase of the production process; the circular economy model is now a global objective, included among the themes of fundamental importance in Agenda 2030 for sustainable development launched by the United Nations.

The core of the circular economy is the transformation of waste, beginning with prudently managing resources. Applying this paradigm to the textile sector signifies:

• reducing waste management and disposal costs;
• cutting down on the cost of materials;
• limiting the use of non-renewable resources; and
• consequently reducing environmental impact.

From a more general green economy outlook, the responses of people and businesses are increasingly important. Whereas upcycling in the textile sector is the new trend, there’s a need for an ongoing and concrete commitment by all players involved.

In 2018 the global fashion industry produced around 2.1 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions: that’s 4 percent of the overall total. Moreover, due to increasingly lower prices and revenue losses — caused by overstocks, stockouts and product returns — profit margins for major clothing retailers worldwide fell on average by 40 percent from 2016 to 2019. In 2020 this trend was further enhanced by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, which highlighted the fragility of fashion supply chain and has seen the industry suffer a whopping 90-percent drop in profits since 2019 (as reported by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation).

In terms of environmental impact, according to the European Environment Agency (EEA) 87 percent of textile waste worldwide ends up in landfills or incinerated, with less than 1 percent being recycled. As such, the UN’s plan is a call to all businesses and manufacturers, who have already responded by adopting an increasingly virtuous path towards people and the planet, weaving a viable route for the future of the textile sector on a global scale.

The contribution of ACIMIT — the Association of Italian Textile Industry Machinery Manufacturers — is part of this virtuous solution, and is concretely materialized in the Green Label. Conceived as part of the Sustainable Technologies, ACIMIT’s Green Label marks an essential step on the road towards sustainability and a circular economy.

The Green Label rewards the commitment by Italian textile machinery manufacturers to valorize solutions that respond to the need for sustainability. By measuring the energy and environmental performance of textile machinery, the Green Label certifies a machine’s value and eco-friendly efficiency, thereby providing a benchmark for its efficacy within the production cycle – as well as the manufacturer’s competitiveness on the market.

For more information visit https://www.green-label.it/en/.

This sponsored content was provided by the Italian Trade Agency (ITA).

May 10, 2022

TW Special Report

Italian textile machinery manufacturers play a major role in promoting new trends linked to green technologies in their manufacturing sector. The playing field on which the textile industry is hedging its competitive edge is environmental, economic and social sustainability. Regulations and new environmental legislation, also applied to the textile sector and urged on by environmental movements and precautionary policies on chemical safety standards for major brands, have accelerated the change in the entire textile supply chain, which is now more sensitive than ever to these issues.

Italy’s textile machinery manufacturers in the various textile manufacturing segments  — from spinning and knitting to weaving and finishing — now provide technology solutions capable of greatly reducing the emission of or use of hazardous substances in production processes and ensuring greater water savings along with improved energy efficiency in production processes.

Within this context, ACIMIT — the Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers — has launched the “Sustainable Technologies” project, coordinated by the RINA certification body, in an effort to develop and promote key sustainability issues for the textile industry. The gold standard of the “Sustainable Technologies” project is the Green Label — a voluntary declaration by Italian textile machinery manufacturers designed to highlight the energy and/or environmental performance of a given machine, calculated in reference to a production cycle defined by the manufacturer for labeled machinery.

The purpose of the Green Label is to identify and easily communicate the energy and environmental performance of a textile machine with reference to a process chosen by the manufacturer as a comparison parameter. Thus, in the absence of internationally recognized standards for classifying energy and/or environmental performance for textile machinery, Italian manufacturers are promoting a tool that aims to highlight some machinery performance data. Awareness of achievements in technological excellence, including in terms of sustainability, is one of the Italian textile machinery sector’s elements of strength, placing it at the forefront of sustainable technological solutions to support the textile industry. In particular, the quantity of equivalent emissions of carbon dioxide — Carbon Footprint – CFP — produced during the machinery’s operation, is the parameter chosen to provide a value to the eco-efficiency of the labeled machinery.

RINA, an Italy-based international certification body, has validated the process of issuing the Green Label and its test measurements. On the basis of a standardized and certified procedure, RINA verifies both the way in which parameters are measured, and the operating conditions of the machines being labeled. At the end of the on-site audits, RINA issues a certificate of conformity that certifies compliance with the regulation by member companies and the truthfulness of the performance data of Green Label certifications issued.

To promote the genesis of the Green Label, ACIMIT — in collaboration with the Italian Trade Agency (ITA) — will participate in the 2022 edition of Techtextil North America in Atlanta, with an Italian Pavilion hosting 17 Italian companies. During the event, ACIMIT and ITA representatives will be available to provide more information regarding the project. If you attend the show, be sure to stop by booth 2133, 2233 and 2333 to discover more.

Scan the QR code for more information:

This sponsored content was provided by the Italian Trade Agency.

April 26, 2022