Italian companies in Oslo for seminar on textile recycling

(ANSA) - OSLO, 24 SET - The seminar 'From Material Girl to Material World: Pioneering Sustainable Textiles' was held today in Oslo. It was one of the main events that animated Oslo Innovation Week, a major international event that brings together more than 80 initiatives including conferences, seminars, workshops and happenings in which incubators, scientific institutions, investors, companies and start-ups present innovative solutions for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in which incubators, scientific institutions, investors, companies and start-ups present innovative solutions for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Resulting from the collaboration between the national cluster of the Norwegian fashion-textile industry, the Italian Embassy in Oslo, the ICE Agency and German and Finnish institutions, the seminar brought together a large parterre of experts and professionals from the sector, who discussed the status and latest developments in the field of textile recycling and regeneration and new fibres.
    Speakers from Italy were young but solid realities of circular fashion such as Rifò, part of the Prato ecosystem of textile recycling and regeneration, and Progetto Quid, a Verona-based company that has adopted an innovative production model with a high social impact. Also present were MagnoLab, a newly established textile innovation district in the Biella region with a strong international vocation, and Appcycled, an upcycle fashion platform created in Milan at the height of the global pandemic crisis. Lastly, the Erion Consortium offered its contribution to the debate on the future requirements linked to the introduction of the new European legislation on extended producer responsibility in the textile sector.
    The Italian Ambassador to Norway, Stefano Nicoletti, who attended the event, pointed out that 'the Italian fashion-textile and accessories industry, which remains first in Europe and among the largest in the world in terms of turnover, number of companies and number of employees, can make a decisive contribution to the green turnaround of one of the most polluting production sectors on the planet. This is demonstrated by the growing attention to sustainability of Italy's major brands and the creation, in recent years in Italy, of an increasing number of start-ups and SMEs that make the reuse, recycling and regeneration of textiles and clothing their core business. The hope is that initiatives like today's can also foster dialogue and facilitate the creation of collaborations with Norwegian and foreign partners, in order to more effectively pursue the objectives of reducing environmental impact in this sector'.