Delegates From Timberland And Thread International To Speak At Planet Textiles 2017

Event & Conferences

Delegates From Timberland And Thread International To Speak At Planet Textiles 2017

Timberland’s Director of Sustainability Colleen Vien as well as Thread International’s Founder & CEO Ian Rosenberger have been confirmed as speakers at the Planet Textiles 2017 summit which is scheduled to be held at the JW Marriott Hotel in Bangalore, India.

Timberland and Thread International will give a joint presentation about their collaboration in Haiti where Thread shipped a large quantity of recycled plastic out of the country to be processed into textiles, garments as well as footwear which in turn provided employment to poor families in that country.

As Timberland’s Sustainability Director, Colleen Vien is in charge of ensuring ethical and sustainable sourcing at the brand which sources from over 300 suppliers in more than 35 countries. She also oversees Timberland’s involvement in the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, the Outdoor Industry Association, the Fair Factories Clearinghouse, Social Accountability International, and the Clinton Global Initiative.

Other speakers at this year’s event include Government of India’s Textile Commissioner Dr Kavita Gupta, Water.org’s Executive Director (India) Manoj Gulati, Puma Group’s Head of Corporate Sustainability Stefan Seidel, ZDHC Group’s Executive Director Frank Michel, Reliance Group’s CMO Polyester Sector Gunjan Sharma, Sustainable Apparel Coalition Kibbey and Pratibha Syntex CEO Shreyaskar Chaudhary.

Issues like water availability, water conservation in wet processing, wastewater discharge, the circular economy and the rise of environmental awareness in India will dominate this year’s Planet Textiles summit.

Planet Textiles will also hold a special breakout session on wastewater in the textile sector featuring Sajid Hussain, Chief Operating Officer of Tamilnadu Water Investment Company Ltd, a company which was instrumental in the zero liquid discharge (ZLD) initiative in Tirupur – a city at the epicentre of India’s knitted fabric sector.

Sajid will discuss experiences of the ZLD project and possible ways forward including the development of policy framework, and challenges such as how ZLD can mean the generation of hazardous solid wastes, which pose new disposal challenges for the global textile sector.

Planet Textiles delegates will also hear from a special session run by the ZDHC, which will also partner with the event to reveal new work and include new results from some important pilot projects on water use and wastewater in textile mills dotted across the globe.

The event is being produced in partnership with leading man-made cellulosic supplier Lenzing and is also being kindly sponsored by Oeko-Tex, Covestro, ZDHC and Proviera. Supporters include Messe Frankfurt and The Dyestuff Manufacturers Association of India.