Eco-textiles to headline at Interstoff Asia Essential
Eco-friendly textiles and garments will be the major theme at Interstoff Asia Essential, which will take place on March 12-14 in Hong Kong.
A special display forum, 'Eco-textiles: Fabrics That Care', will house a selection of exhibitor fabrics labelled according to a new labelling system devised by Japanese textile expert Sachiko Inoue among others. The new system will enable buyers to easily identify and understand raw materials and processes and will be split into four categories: Green Label - fabrics that are made from certified organic or environmentally-friendly raw materials, such as organic cotton, hemp, bamboo, corn fibre, soy beans, charcoal, polylactic acid fibre, or paper; Brown Label - fabrics that have been manufactured by a certified environmentally-friendly process, where usage, contamination and pollution of air, water, noise, and energy sources have been controlled; Blue Label - fabrics that have been manufactured with a certified environmentally-friendly finishing process, such as through natural and non-toxic dyes, or where remedial measures for water treatment have been taken; and Silver Label - fabrics that are made from certified organic or environmentally-friendly raw materials, using an environmentally-friendly manufacturing and finishing process.
Certification companies Testex Swiss Textile Testing Institute and the Institute for Marketecology will attend the fair and each will give an hour-long presentation on the accreditation programmes they run, applications and certification procedures, and the benefits of certification.
