The Ready-to-Wear Sector's Goal: Recycling-Focused Innovation

Ready-to-wear and apparel sector focuses on recycling-driven innovation In the second session of the "SUSTAINABILITY TALKS" webinar series to be held on 24 December by the Aegean Ready-to-wear and Apparel Exporters Association, sustainability in ready-to-wear production and exports will be discussed by Aegean Ready-to-wear and Apparel Exporters Association Chairman Burak Sertbaş and Ekoten Tekstil Board Chairman Şükrü Ünlütürk. Ünlütürk will share best practice examples in textiles in line with sustainable development objectives and assess sector developments. Aegean Ready-to-wear and Apparel Exporters Association Chairman Burak Sertbaş, stating that climate change poses a serious threat to growth and prosperity, continued as follows: "Climate crisis diplomacy among countries continues at the global level. Climate change policy is now entering a new phase where countries cannot produce industry as they wish, bound by ecological standards. Environmental policy is now an important tool in the hands of countries that encompasses trade in the name of transforming the world. In our SUSTAINABILITY TALKS webinar series, the first session of which we organized in cooperation with Business Sweden, we examined the sustainable production strategies of Swedish fashion brands post-Covid-19. Particularly the EU, which accounts for 80 percent of our exports, will begin taking concrete steps from 2021 onwards. This is why we need to create a market where waste materials gain value. To do this, we must start from the beginning. Economic design significantly affects product lifespan. Recycling depends 80 percent on this."

Aegean Ready-to-wear and Apparel Exporters Association, a driver of low-carbon economic growth

Sertbaş believes that circular economy is a process requiring good analysis and planning, continuing from cradle to grave, but that only in this way can the recycling mechanism turn. "During the 1 January-20 December period, Turkey's overall apparel exports reached USD 16.5 billion. Apparel exports from the Aegean Region amounted to USD 1.2 billion. We have always been the side that designs the future, foresees the future, opens new paths and accelerates work. In the economy, the value-added chain grows with innovation. And innovation is possible through realistic initiatives that respect human rights and the environment, and improve conditions. This is why we have worked tirelessly for years to increase sustainability awareness in our sector. We were the first to sign the UN Global Compact, a universal agreement. We established our sustainability working group. We organized numerous projects and events such as the UR-GE project on sustainability and the Fashion Revolution Exhibition. We shaped the theme of the Aegean Ready-to-wear and Apparel Exporters Association Fashion Design Competition, which we held for the 15th time this year, around sustainability."