SDC successfully conducts conference at ITMACH India

Chief guest for the event, SDC CEO Dr. Graham Clayton, addressed the gathering of dyers, colourists and other textile value chain stakeholders on the conference theme. He presented various initiatives from SDC to engage with members and non-members.

According to Clayton, SDC has two key strategies. The first is to develop a colour education pathway spanning higher educational years, through employment and into retirement. This pathway will include technical and design communities worldwide and at all levels of qualification including the SDC Designer’s Coloration Certificate, the SDC Foundation & Textile Coloration Certificate and the flagship ASDC, and related LSDC, along with CCol Chartered status and FSDC, Fellowship of the SDC.

The second strategy would be to develop SDC Communities to bring together like-minded individuals based on either geographical or interest commonalities.

The chief guest’s address was followed by four technical sessions in which panel discussion were held.

The first panel discussion on 'Compliance in Textile Manufacturing' was moderated by Ullhas Nimkar, director of Nimkartex Technical services. The panellists comprised Dr. Ruma Chakrabarti, business head-India, Centexbel; Subhash Bhargava, managing director Colorant Ltd; Subaash Dhananjayan, managing director for India & South Asia, The Sting, a Netherlands-based retail brand.

In a very interactive session, Nimkar and the team of panellist highlighted the need to screen input chemicals like acids, salts for banned products, as in some cases heavy metals were found in salt. Textiles made of recycled material collected from the sea can also have chemicals that leach out due to prolonged exposure to sunlight.

The second panel discussion on ‘Solutions to sustainable textile colouration’ was moderated by Anjani Prasad, managing director and head brand performance textile specialities India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Archroma India Pvt Ltd. The panellists included Jayant Khera, vice-president South Asia, DyStar India Pvt Ltd; Siddharth Raj, regional marketing manager-dyes responsibility, Huntsman International LLC; Dr. Binay Choudhary, chairman, CU Inspection India Pvt Ltd; and Yawar Ali Shah, chairman and co-founder, Ama Herbal Laboratories Pvt Ltd. The panellists said that a lot more needs to be done to a ‘cleaner’ colouration of textiles.

The panellists discussed that brands, Retailers and chemical manufacturers must collaborate and make collective contribution to sustainable textile colouration. Prasad and the panel gave various example were waste from one industry was used to created durable products in another.

Post lunch session on ‘Brands response to call of sustainability’ was moderated by Dr. Siva Pariti, global technical program manager, Sustex Solutions. Sumit Gupta, deputy director, GOTS; Vandana Arora, manager, back selling & CSI liaising, DyStar India Pvt Ltd; Ashok Sarda, vice president Zydex Industries; and Venkat Ramana Bhat, regional materials manager were among the panellists. The panellist provided examples of sustainable initiatives by brands. Sarda highlighted the need for using pigments to reduce resources and create better managed colouration.

Gupta highlighted the success of brands and designers who have embraced organic pathway. Arora put forward example of recycling by brands and that domestic brands must push much more towards attending a sustainable fashion brand. Bhat briefed about the precautions taken by Colombia during sourcing their raw materials for their products.

Environmental expert Dr. Jaideep Dudhbhate, consultant at Dr JD Consulting, spoke on ‘Best available technologies for wastewater management’ in the last session.

All the sessions were very informative and interactive, well appreciated by the audience.

SDC is the outstanding provider of colour education, offering a range of internationally recognised coloration courses and qualifications. Founded in 1884, SDC became a registered charity in 1962 and was awarded a Royal Charter in 1963. The SDC remains the only organisation in the world able to award the Chartered Colourist status.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (PC)