swiss technical textile industry barriers for
TRANSCRIPT
Swiss Technical Textile Industry
Barriers for Transitioning to a More Sustainable Economy
Bachelor Thesis
Ekaterina Schulze
Class 6i
Contento Why did I choose this topic?o Introduction to the thesiso Main conclusionso What did I learn?o Highlightso Challenges
Technical textiles - materials and products developed and manufactured for technical performance and functional properties, rather than aesthetics
Why did I choose textiles?
Source: https://swisstextiles.ch/en/branche-1/facts-and-figures
Swiss Textile Federation (2020): half of the export can be attributed to technical textiles, which grew by more than 30% in the last decade
Principles of the circular system
• Design out waste and pollution
• Keep products and materials in use
• Regenerate natural systems
Source: The Ellen MacArthur Foundation
Model of a circular business ecosystem for textiles
Source: Fontell & Heikkilä 2017, p. 20
Re-usable textiles
Non-re-usable textiles
Retail
Fiber manufacturing
Industrial processing
Sorting
Chemical recycling
Recycling
Other industries
FabricmanufacturingTextile
manufacturing
Textiles design& producing
Yarn spinning
Separatecollection,Pick-up
Circular metrics phases
Beginner Intermediate Advanced
Circular Strategy Ambition
Circularity not formally recognized
Circularity integrated in sustainability
strategy
Circularity integrated in corporate strategy
Circular MetricsOperational
EfficiencySustainability Performance
Circular Value Creation
Source: World Business Council for Sustainable Development 2018, p. 13
Eco-certification Sustainability reporting
Partnerships with Unis
New practices (take-back, renting)
Sector overview (based on interviews)
100% 0%>50% 50%
Identified barriers to a more sustainable economy
a. Compatibility with technical standards
b. Mixed materials use
c. Concerns about recycled materials
d. Quality concerns
Higher prices
a. Lack of a dialogue
b. Lack of market demand for
circular products & services
Possible lack of governmental incentives for going green
85% 85%
40% 40%
What did I learn?
• “Away” from the end user means “away” from the pressure on adjusting to sustainability trends
• The large distance from the consumer means more difficulty in charging a premium for sustainability efforts
• For the companies, an acute challenge is the technical one
Highlights
Challenges
• Many companies of the sector cooperate with research institutes and try to develop more sustainable products
• Conducted interviews made companies think once again about the environmental impact of their operations and their efforts to improve the situation
• Unification of various companies of the sector
• The concept of circularity is not well understood
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carta_Marina.jpeg
Thank you for your
attention!