„Organic Exchange“ grows to „Textile Exchange“ at its Global Sustainable Textiles Conference

Organic Exchange (OE), the non-profit organization which has helped drive global sales of organic cotton apparel and home textile products to an estimated $ 4.3 billion in 2009, will announce its expanded role as the organization driving development of the global sustainable textile industry under the new name, „Textile Exchange“, at its annual conference at Sentry Centers in New York City from 27 to 29 October 2010.
 

The broadened focus positions the organization to serve as the non-profit convener, catalyst, and market-maker for the sustainable textile industry worldwide. Textile Exchange (TE) will work to increase the global market for sustainable fibers, focusing initially on those that are bio-based, organic, and recycled while retaining a core focus on organic cotton. It will also tackle pressing textile industry production concerns such as water and air emissions, energy use and its impact on climate change, waste production, and the widespread use of toxic inputs. Change is vital given the huge and unsustainable economic, environmental, and social costs of current textile production methods and a projected global population of over nine billion by 2050, all needing clothing and other textiles. A focus on textile sustainability enables the entire value chain to find cost savings and production efficiencies and pass those savings on to customers while reducing the impact of textile production on people and the environment.
 
The change will be announced at Textile Exchange’s Global Sustainable Textiles Conference, with approximately 300 textile industry-related representatives from 29 countries already registered to attend. TE’s global conference includes representatives from the US Federal Trade Commission, adidas, Anvil Knitwear, C&A, Disney, Eileen Fisher, Gap, H&M, Lenzing, LL Bean, Nike, Nordstrom, Patagonia, Puma, REI, Target, Walmart, and Williams-Sonoma. Topics to be covered include sustainable textile processing, eco-indexing, traceability and transparency, organic fiber production, and environmental footprinting.
 
In November, TE will roll out a dynamic website www.TextileExchange.org which will dramatically improve the ability of producers, manufacturers, brands and retailers, funders, and the general public to interact, find important information, locate supply chain partners, and improve traceability, transparency, and integrity in the textile industry supply chain. The website - created by Silicon Valley’s SourceN, an award-winning digital agency that has also created websites for Apple, MTV, and Time, Inc. - aims to drive efficiency, cost savings, and visibility in the global textile value chain.

Organic Exchange