The Champion of Textile Sustainability
Reprinted from J. Michael Quante's article for the AATCC Newsletter
Making textile sustainability a priority isn’t easy. Textile companies have struggled to implement sustainable development principles into the creation of their products, which can involve major changes in manufacturing practices. This encompasses all aspects of the supply chain and includes end-of-life (EOL) disposal.
The drive towards textile product sustainability began to take shape in the early 1990s, although the basic concept has been around for much longer. The modern definition was created by a UN committee’s report in 1987. Sustainable development was defined as that which “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
The Origins
A carpet industry CEO, Ray C. Anderson of Interface, Atlanta, GA, USA, answered the call for more sustainable carpet industry business practices. When he founded the company in 1973, Anderson realized the potential of manufacturing and selling carpet tiles. His business grew and became highly successful.
About the Author
J. Michael Quante is a science editor, retired in 2021 from AATCC. He was primarily responsible for editing peer-reviewed articles for the AATCC Journal of Research. His current interests are writing about industrial uses of new technologies, potential applications of emergent research, sustainability, and biomimicry.
