The Tiruppur Exporters Association (TEA) has become a member of Netherlands-based Textile Exchange, a global non profit.
TEA president K.M. Subramanian said with a membership of 1,260 garment exporters in Tiruppur, the Association was now part of the 800-member Exchange. This membership would give the TEA members a platform to know more about global trends and requirements related to sustainable production of garments. Several US and EU brands were part of the Exchange and they would get to know about the capabilities in Tiruppur. Both cotton-based and MMF-based exporters would benefit from this.
“It helps build the network for exporters,” he said.
Further, many large-scale garment manufacturers in Tiruppur were investing to make garment production green and environment-friendly and some of them were part of the Exchange. However, the MSME units did not have access to information related to sustainability. “We will share knowledge and educate our members. We will share with them all details related to sustainable production that we get through the Exchange. We will also bridge exporters and brands depending on the needs of the buyers and the capabilities of the exporters,” he said.
Sakthivel, chairman of the TEA, said sustainability efforts in Tiruppur started more than a decade ago with the garment producers investing in solar and wind energy and zero liquid discharge systems. They were also getting into circularity now. The themes of environment-friendly, sustainable production was gaining momentum with buyers too. A membership with the Exchange gave visibility to the initiatives in Tiruppur among the buyers. The 50th edition of India Knit Fair almost promoted these concepts and information about it would reach members of the Textile Exchange, he said.