What Are The Face-To-Face Talks Between Regenerated Cellulose Fiber Enterprises And Terminal Brands?

Fiber, yarn, weaving, printing and dyeing, chemicals, ready-made clothes... The textile industry has created the most complex supply system in the world. No one knows where the fiber is used, but they come together to explore the answer because of their persistence in green sustainable development.


Today, as the topic of global sustainable development continues to improve, as a renewable and degradable textile raw material, regenerated cellulose fibers are increasingly attracting the attention of end consumers and brands. Regenerated cellulose fibers are considered not only by many brands as part of their 100% sustainable textile materials, but also to improve environmental performance and reduce environmental impact. But in the face of the complex textile industry chain, how to make the whole industry chain more transparent and trace the source to truly understand the situation of regenerated cellulose fiber enterprises? Tesco, H&M, M&S, Esprit, Inditex and other terminal brands set up the "regenerated cellulose fiber brand working group" (hereinafter referred to as "brand group") is precisely to solve this problem born product.


In December 13th, the green development alliance of the regenerated cellulose fiber industry (hereinafter referred to as the "CV alliance") and the brand group jointly held a joint exchange meeting. Through the direct communication between fiber producers and terminal brands, we explored the answer to green sustainable development for consumers and the entire textile industry chain. The meeting attracted the vice president of the China Chemical Fiber Industry Association, He Yanli, vice president Jiang Junzhou, Deputy Secretary General of the China Cotton Textile Industry Association Guo Zhanjun, deputy general manager of Sanyou chemical fiber, Sun Jian, CV representative, Tesco, Primark, H&M, M&S, Esprit, Next, Inditex, Uniqlo, Bestseller and other representatives of cotton textile enterprises, representing about 50 people. Zhang Zixin, Secretary General of CV alliance, chaired the meeting.


At present, the annual output of global fiber has exceeded 1 billion tons. With the continuous growth of fiber supply and the change of consumer's concept in recent years, regenerated cellulose fibers are favored by consumers due to their softness, skin affinity and natural attributes. "However, the industry still faces two challenges of sustainable development, one is the source of raw materials, the other is how to ensure sustainable use of fiber resources, and two is how to minimize chemical use and pollutant emissions in production." Zhang Zixin said.


To this end, the CV alliance has drawn up an alliance roadmap to clarify the path of sustainable development of the industry, and continuously carry out green production, Wanli travel and other activities to increase technical exchanges and provide technical support. More importantly, the CV alliance actively releases industry information, shares sustainable progress in the industry through continuous development reports, organization and stakeholder meetings, and continuously improves industry transparency and accepts external supervision. "In the future, the CV alliance will be more ambitious and continue to cooperate extensively with stakeholders at home and abroad to set up an internationally advanced industry's sustainable development goal and lead the sustainable development of the industry." Zhang Zixin spoke with confidence when he talked about what he should do next.


During the day's meeting, representatives of the brand group shared the background and purpose of the establishment of the brand group. After a comprehensive study of sustainable development issues such as "deforestation, elimination of hazardous chemicals, best production technology, transparency and social impact", the brand team jointly compiled a special questionnaire for industry, hoping to fully understand the current situation of the sustainable development of the industry and work hand in hand with the industry to promote the sustainable development of the industry.


The representatives of the participating brands shared their respective purchasing policies. It is noteworthy that in recent years, more and more terminal brands have gradually disclosed their respective 1 level suppliers and 2 level suppliers list, and have begun to understand and disclose the 3 and 4 level suppliers including fiber manufacturers. For the regenerated cellulose fiber industry, many terminal brands have indicated that the sustainable forest fiber source will be solved by the end of 2020, and the sustainability of forestry will be ensured through third party tools / certification. In addition, a number of brands have also conducted research on the performance of chemical and waste emissions in the industry, and formulated action plans for the year 2023 or 2025.


Regenerated cellulose fiber production enterprises have also made many attempts in sustainable practice. Sanyou chemical fiber deputy general manager has shared their experience in the sustainable development of enterprises, such as the cooperative recycling project of cellulose textiles established with the Swedish company Re:newcell, continuously increased the amount of certified wood pulp, developed fiber Traceability Technology, supported the kubha desert forest project, developed and implemented new technologies, reduced water and sulfur emissions, and the Tang Si TM brand launched on the basis of sustainable development concept. "Sustainable work is a long-term and continuous work. It is necessary for enterprises to enhance their strategic position to the sustainable development of enterprises. It needs the full attention of the leaders of enterprises and the establishment of a professional team to carry out them." Yu Hanjiang said.


As a vice chairman of the CV alliance, Sai Deli has also brought about the sharing of the sustainable development of enterprises. As the world's largest regenerated cellulose fiber manufacturing enterprise, Sai Deli belongs to the Golden Eagle Group, which has a complete industrial chain from woodland to fiber. It achieves recycling of natural resources by planting 300 million trees a year. At the same time, through implementing relevant policies / standards / certifications at home and abroad, it forms a good partnership with stakeholders, and practices corporate social responsibility and achieves sustainable development by adhering to the principle of transparency and responsibility.


In order to further enhance the transparency of the industry and promote the sustainable development of the industry, the CV alliance and enterprises and brands have conducted in-depth exchanges and discussions on the direction and progress of their respective work, and exchanged views on how to further enhance the transparency of the industry, reduce duplication of work, improve the efficiency of communication, improve procurement traceability and visit the regenerated cellulose fiber enterprises in the field.


Jiang Junzhou, vice president of China Chemical Fiber Industry Association, summarized the meeting. He said: "today's docking meeting will enable alliance enterprises to understand the appeal of terminal brands better. The terminal brand also has more understanding of alliance enterprises, hoping that the following parties can form more interaction and cooperation. Through today's information sharing, we also see that Tangshan three friends, Sai Li and other allied enterprises have made good progress in sustainable development. Next, the CV alliance will also show the image of sustainable development of alliance enterprises one by one. For the future, transparency and information disclosure of enterprises are becoming more and more important. We hope that alliance enterprises will strengthen internal construction, improve working mechanisms, communicate with terminal brands more effectively, and also hope that enterprises will attach great importance to sustainable development, arrange special personnel to take charge, and enhance learning and enhance their ability to communicate with brands.