Dr. Christian P. Schindler* informs: “The textile industry has experienced constant change for about 250 years since the beginning of industrialisation. In the past, the focus was on improving efficiency. New production processes were designed to enhance and/or speed up the processing of existing raw materials. The speed and quality of textile production have improved constantly and quickly. Not only has the velocity of ring-spinning been continuously increased, but new production technologies, such as rotor and air-jet spinning have considerably increased the pace of spinning for certain yarns. Since the 1970s, environmental awareness has increased. While in the past it was only of local and regional importance, global climate change has led to the global phenomena of environmental protection and sustainability. Textile machinery manufacturers and the textile industry must align with this development. Technologically, this means that the use of resources must be reduced and recycling intensified. For the raw material cotton, this means being produced more resource-efficiently, i.e. not only more productive, but also more sustainable in the use of energy and water. Moreover, it is important to continuously improve cotton quality, for example in terms of length, micronaire and uniformity. If cotton is attractive in price, produced sustainably and meets the technological requirements of the spinning industry, it will continue to be a significant fibre.“

*Dr. Christian P. Schindler is, General Director, INTERNATIONAL TEXTILE MANUFACTURERS FEDERATION (ITMF), Zurich, Switzerland

Source: Bremen Cotton Report 49_50_16