With the increasing awareness about the importance of environmental protection, several global textile makers are focusing on sustainability in textile supply chain.  

In an interview with fibre2fashion, Ms. Sharon Rowe, CEO and founder of Eco-Bags, a manufacturer of eco-friendly re-usable cotton-net bags, said, “Sustainability in textile industry is a supply chain issue and we must work with socially responsible supply chains only.”

Talking about the sustainability issue in building textiles segment, Dr. Tim Swales, vice-president of research and development as well as chief sustainability officer at John Manville, a manufacture of building textiles, says, “The construction industry consumes a huge amount of raw materials and some estimate that half of all natural resources extracted from the earth are used in building construction.”

“For the foreseeable future, insulation will remain the most cost-effective way to reduce a building’s energy usage. But the increasing demand and potentially limited availability of pre-consumer and post-consumer recycled content will be a great challenge in the future,” he informs.

Informing further, he says, “As the use of raw materials from renewable sources becomes more widely practiced, sourcing of these materials will be challenging.”

“Another major challenge will be access to skilled, experienced and mobile workforce to drive a sustainable technological advancement,” he adds.

According to Ms. Kathy Seabrook, president of American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), companies and organizations value their brand reputation as well as recognition and worker safety is the key to sustainability of their business.

“Having an organization’s name tied to poor safety and health performance due to its supply chain activities does not impact the brand but it will become a competitive disadvantage,” she concludes.