Business

CITEVE Joins The Microfibre Consortium

CITEVE took another important step joining The Microfibre Consortium as its Research Member, in order to support the textile and clothing industries through the development and dissemination of scientific knowledge and technology. There is an increasing concern about the release of microfibres in our environment, both from natural and synthetic sources due to its accumulation potential, namely in the oceans. “We, as the textile and clothing industries technological centre in Portugal and aware of the Portuguese industry priorities and challenges, understand the need of collaboration between different industry stakeholders and we felt the responsibility to help with our expertise in such an important topic. It is part of our duties to be frontrunners in representing our industry and creating awareness and future business opportunities to industry,” says António Braz Costa, General Manager of CITEVE. CITEVE has the biggest textile laboratory facility in Portugal, more than 700 associated companies and the most advanced technologies and highly qualified human resources guarantee the reliability and credibility of the tests provided. “As we look to support our deep research needs within the Microfibre 2030 Commitment and Roadmap, we are delighted to welcome CITEVE to our growing remit of Research Signatories. Although commercial microfibre specific testing is currently out of scope of this relationship, we are excited about the rich depth of textile expertise they provide to our collaborative forum and support to future testing needs as the topic expands,” says Sophie Mather, Executive Director, TMC. CITEVE Laboratories perform hundreds of thousands of tests annually of which around 90% are covered by a broad scope of accreditation in accordance with ISO/IEC 17025, which encompasses tests in accordance with more than 600 test standards. “The evolution and growth of our laboratories has always been to keep up with the needs of companies. We have more than 30 years of experience and I believe that this partnership with TMC will be of great value to develop knowledge and create awareness around the topic within the sector,” says Deolinda Domingues, Technical Director of Laboratories at CITEVE. CITEVE intends to work together with TMC to increase the understanding and engagement of the industry related to microfibres release in an industrial level. “This partnership with TMC represents the practical implementation of actions foreseen within the scope of our strategy, in accordance with the principles of sustainable development. In addition to defining strategies and contributing to public policies as representatives of many companies in the sector, CITEVE's commitment in this area is to put into practice action plans that lead to the development of the industry in terms of sustainability,” says Ana Tavares, Coordinator of the Strategic Agenda for Sustainable, Bio and Circular Economy. Other industry stakeholders part of this consortium include Lenzing, Gore, ZDHC, WRAP, Adidas, Pangaia, Kering among many others.