Textile Insight

textileinsight.com September/October 2021 ~ Textile Insight • 10 Unifi Publishes 2021 Sustainability Report Prioritizing innovation that reduces environmental impact while enhancing transparency is reflected in Unifi's latest sustainability report. "Unifi's commitment to environmen- tal, social and governance responsibility is at the fore- front of everything we do," said Meredith Boyd, Senior Vice President of Technology, Innovation & Sustainability. Key accomplishments cover a range of categories. Highlights include: new prod- ucts and processes to lessen total energy and water impacts; emphasis on lower-impact materials;achieving zero waste to landfill at six of Unifi's seven owned and operated facilities; and promoting a culture of safety. "I'm proud of the significant progress we have made over the last year, including taking fur- ther steps towards our goal of recycling 30 billion bottles from landfills in 2022," said Eddie Ingle, Unifi CEO. New Hohenstein Method Quantifies GMOs for Organic Cotton Claims Textile testing partner Hohenstein has developed a new quantification method spe- cifically for genetically modified cotton. One of the first labs with this ability, Hohenstein uses DNA analysis to identify known genetic modifications and calcu- late their percentage in organic cotton. Stakeholders will use the data to distinguish between minor contaminations and mix- tures, control quality and verify claims. For qualitative screening, Hohenstein previously devel- oped a molecular biological detection system. This method provides reliable evidence of the presence or absence of genetic modifications (GMOs) in cotton. Uniquely, testing can be applied at stages beyond the seed level, such as raw cotton and chemically untreated yarns and fabrics. Hohenstein is also one of the few laboratories in the world with ISO 17025 accreditation to test for GMOs in accordance with the ISO/IWA 32:2019 protocol. Once qualitative analysis detects genetic modification, Hohenstein experts can iden- tify the type and proportion of the GMOs. DNA analysis is used to search for cotton lines with known genetic alterations and quantify their proportion in the sample. This precise information is essen- tial to determining whether an extremely small proportion of GMOs is due to contamination, or whether genetically modi- fied materials have been mixed in. This knowledge offers clear benefits to manufacturers, brands and retailers when it comes to supply chain trans- parency and fraud prevention. There has been a sharp rise in demand for organic cotton products. In the cultivation of organic cotton, genetically modified seeds, chemical pesticides and fertilizers are prohibited. Nevertheless, genetic modifications are repeatedly found in textiles that are labeled with organic claims. Only claims and cer- tifications backed by reliable testing should be trusted. l A Round Up the Latest Industry Updates and Developments. IN THE MARKET | COMPANY NEWS PERSONNEL UPDATE New CMO joins Polygiene Polygiene announces the appointment of Sean Tindale as the new Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) for Polygiene Group. He has a long career within marketing and his last appointment was at the Bestseller group as global marketing director for Vero Moda. Before that as senior global marketing manager at the footwear company ECCO, one of many roles within that company. He will be located in Malmö, Sweden, Polygiene headquarters, and will be responsible for all marketing and brand activities within the Polygiene Group, including the Polygiene and Biomaster brands. Archroma Announces CFO Succession Archroma, a global leader in specialty chemicals,has appointed Thomas Bucher as its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO), replacing Roland Waibel who will retire. Bucher has a long career in finance, having held CFO roles with leading industrial and services companies as well as senior finance roles in the chemical sector. He joins Archroma from Alpiq Holding AG, where he has been Group CFO. Prior to Alpiq, Bucher was Group CFO at Gategroup and before that he held a number of senior finance roles at Ciba Specialty Chemicals. "I am very excited to join Archroma and a team who has shown amazing agility and market relevance in the recent years," added Bucher, "transforming itself to operate ever more efficiently, profitably and sustainably." Sanitized Names new CEO Michael Lüthi, a member of the founding family, has been named the CEO of the Sanitized company group. He will take over the position from Urs Stalder, who will join the adminis- trative board after working for the company for over 30 years. Lüthi will assume leadership of a company that has a legacy marked by over 80 years' expertise in innovative, safe, and reliable products. The additives that Sanitized develops and markets deliver odor-free textiles, long-lasting hygiene function, protect the material of artificial surfaces, and pre- vent paints and coatings from degrading in quality due to impurities. Around 520 companies actively use the Sanitized ingredient brand in their final products. American company Consolidated Pathways was recently acquired by Sanitized. The Swiss company now has a presence with its own subsidiaries in the U.S., China, the European Union, and India. l Industry benefits from analytic evidence Hohenstein research provides.

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