Coordinating sustainability and transparency efforts on the agenda at HTT’s Material Changes conference.
New initiatives are underway to map the entirety of U.S. cotton production for complete transparency, accelerate sustainability benchmarks and amplify U.S. availability of BCI cotton.
Home textiles brands, suppliers and retailers can learn more about what’s happening and how to take part during a special panel discussion called “U.S. Cotton Leaps Ahead: How Brands and Stakeholders Can get Involved.”
The session will be part of HTT’s virtual Material Changes conference next month. Panelists will include Gary Adams, president and CEO of the U.S Cotton Protocol; April Kappler, U.S. operations manager for the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI); Marc Lewkowitz, president and ceo of Supima; and Ben Tomkins, senior business development manager of Oritain.
This year’s Material Changes will take place virtually, providing wider access for industry members who were not able to attend the in-person conferences in previous years. It will take place Tuesday, Nov. 17 beginning at 8:30 a.m. ET. Registration is now open.
The fast-paced event will include an interactive networking room, and there will be plenty of breaks allowing attendees to connect. The conference will conclude with a virtual cocktail party and even more opportunities to mingle.
Tickets are $49 for those who register by Nov. 5. From Nov. 6 on, tickets are $79.
Agenda highlights include:
Product claim opportunities – and minefields – around key innovations such as cooling, antimicrobial and antiviral. Dr. Min Zhu, SGS North America’s technical director for softlines in US & Canada, will discuss the considerations and unintended consequences around new technologies. She will be joined by a client, who will share their product journey.
Advances in ordor-free textiles. Karel Williams, director of DuPont’s Global Portfolio Business, will share exclusive research about consumer laundry habits and behaviors, why traditional laundering methods don’t always remove odors from textiles and how Intellifresh antimicrobial technology delivers odor prevention.
Scaling textile circularity in the U.S. Sarah Coulter, project fellow at Accelerating Circularity, will share information about a pilot textile recycling system on the East Coast that is launching with funding from the Walmart Foundation and support from Gap Inc, Nike, Target and VF Corporation.
The fibers of tomorrow. An expert from The Wilson College of Textiles at NC State University will discuss textiles technologies on the horizon in the next five years as well as current work being done in fibers, fabrics and finishes.
Supima is this year’s Platinum sponsor. Silver sponsors include Intellifresh and SGS North America. Cotton Incorporated is the bronze sponsor.