Going beyond just a summit to a carbon neutral celebration of change, Control Union Sri Lanka, part of the global network of Inspections, Certification and Laboratory services, held its ‘Sustainably Versatile Summit – TEX 360’ to weaving a greener, more sustainable future for the textile industry.
The summit was held on 30th January, 2024 at Hilton Colombo, and saw the participation of many industry leaders, subject experts, and policy makers, coming together to discuss groundbreaking ideas and solutions that will help the industry embrace a more holistic eco-conscious and responsible approach in tackling some of the most pressing issues facing today and in the future.
The highlights of the event included the introduction of a dedicated mobile application, EVENTA to calculate event emission including those of the attendees, and a virtual sustainable gift was given out to each participant, bestowing the ‘Climate Neutral Citizen’ status for one year, by neutralizing estimated annual personal level emissions using 2 tCO2e carbon credits each.
Further, by neutralizing the event and awarding the virtual sustainable gift to all participants, the event in itself was able to achieve a total neutralization of a million kilograms equivalent of carbon dioxide emissions.
The event saw some of renowned personalities as speakers, to include Franco Costantini – CEO, Regenagri; Ganesh Kasekar – South Asia Representative, Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS); Saket Kulkarni – Implementation Manager, South Asia, Ocean Bound Plastic (OBP); Vincent Decap – Co-Founder, Zero Plastic Oceans, and Abhishek Bansal – Head of Sustainability, Global Water Innovation Centre for Action – GWICA, discussing issues and providing solutions and standards in addressing them.
Two thought-provoking discussion panels were held. The first panel titled ‘Stitching Sustainability’ discussed on how innovative strategies are needed to tackle challenges, ensure revival, sustain growth, meet brand demands, and anticipate upcoming legislations especially in supply chain compliance. It also stressed on exploring global textile opportunities, promoting strategic collaborations to enhance innovation and technology, and how the National Quality Infrastructure (NQI) plays a vital role in enhancing export development for the apparel industry.
The panelists were Dr. Kingsley Bernard, Chairman/CEO – Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB); Dr. Saranga Alahapperuma, Chairman – Industrial Development Board (IDB); Indika Liyanahewage, Chairman – Sri Lanka Apparel Exporters Association (SLAEA); Yohan Lawrence, Secretary General – Joint Apparel Association Forum Sri Lanka (JAAFSL), Dr. Sampath Wahala – Chairman, Sri Lanka Accreditation Board (SLAB), moderated by Roshan Ranawake, Managing Director – Control Union Sri Lanka.
The second panel discussion titled ‘Innovation Unraveled’ brought together some of the most senior executives at Control Union, including Dr. Binay Kumar Choudhury and Fakhrul Islam Khan, Co-Chairmans – Global Expert Team; Dirk Teichert, Board Member/Chairman Asia Pacific; Ms. Lonneke de Kort, Manager Sustainable Textiles & Materials EMEA; Roshan Ranawake of Sri Lanka, and Ms. Mariecar Gecale, Product Owner for Asia, Peterson Technologies, moderated by Naveen Singh, Center of Excellence – Textile – Asia.
They went onto discuss how Control Union could help supply chain partners, foster innovation, and ensure compliance with legislative mandates such as the EU Green Deal, Circular Economy Action Plan, Strategy for Circular and Sustainable Action Plan, Force Labour Convention Act (US market), and EPR legislations, including the multifaceted challenges faced by textile supply chains, and how it could support brands and retailers in meeting evolving expectations through eco-design consultancy and certification services aligned with ESG requirements to optimize their sustainability efforts.
In its sustainability journey, Control Union truly emphasized their proactive approach to understanding challenges and delivering solutions through this summit. Tex 360’ set the stage for future collaborations and innovations in the textile industry of Sri Lanka while setting a benchmark for other sectors as well. Visit www.controlunion.com for more information.