Authentico® at ZDHC Southern Europe Conference
Authentico® at ZDHC Southern Europe Conference
“Driving Regional Sustainable Change for Global Impact” this was the leitmotif of 2024 ZDHC Southern Europe Conference, hosted at the SMI-Confindustria Moda headquarter in Milan on the 13th of November. Debora Tricarico, Authentico® Brand Manager and Michela Toppan, Quality Assurance & Sustainability Coordinator of Pettinatura di Verrone joined the conference after over one year engaging with ZDHC Roadmap to Zero program implementation at the Schneider Group.
About ZDHC
ZDHC (Zero Discharge Hazardous Chemicals) is a foundation active in eliminating toxic substances from textile industry derived discharges in the environment operating worldwide.
ZDHC was born in response to the Greenpeace detox campaign of 2011 and the fundamental objectives of the ZDHC can be summarized as following:
· eliminate or replace hazardous chemicals
· developing transparent processes to promote safer chemistry
· develop the effective tools, good practices and training to improve chemicals management
· develop collaboration with stakeholders to promote transparency regarding chemicals
ZDHC at Schneider Group
Between October and December 2023 all Schneider mills scouring, carding and combing Authentico® wool in Italy, Argentina and Egypt have joined, first worldwide, the ZDHC Roadmap To Zero implementation,followed by the Schneider mill in Mongolia, the first ever cashmere dehairing mill joining ZDHC. Thanks to the implementation of a chemical management system in our mills, we have structured policies and procedures which help us to guarantee safer chemistry, using certified chemical products with the aim to reduce their quantity.
Authentico® Experience at the “Leadership in the Roadmap Implementation from Southern Europe” Panel
Authentico® Brand Manager Debora Tricarico had the honour to be invited by Elisa Gavazza, ZDHC Quality Management and Assurance Director, to talk about Authentico® being a unique example of bottom-up approach in undertaking the Roadmap to Zero journey.
Debora highlighted the importance of responsible processing of Authentico® wool in the three own Schneider Group combing plants as one of the elements setting Authentico® apart from other responsible wool programs, on top of being led by an industry player, rather than being imposed from outside, and leveraging ZDHC in the sustainable journey the wool makes along all the partners’ supply chain down to garment.
This is a very important milestone, adding value to Authentico® wool, which is not only sustainably harvested, but also processed uniquely in the Schneider Group mills which are also RWS and GOTS certified.
One key point of the conversation focused on how we are accustomed to seeing Roadmap to Zero requirements pushed by brands in a top-down approach, while Authentico® approach witnesses a bottom-up one. The industrial environment of the Schneider Group mills in which Authentico® wool moves after leaving the Authentico® verified farms is the key driver inspiring the company to take such a peculiar and out-of-the box approach. As a result, Authentico® partners in the supply chain, from spinner to brands, need to be consistent with this approach of responsibly sourced and responsibly processed wool, carrying on the same ethical values down to the garment.
Marzotto Group is a great example of a partner engaged in the ZDHC program. The relationship between Schneider and Marzotto is long dated and Marzotto is also a vertically integrated company in the supply chain tiers immediately following those in which Authentico® is active, with directly controlled spinning, weaving, dyeing and finishing operations.
The goal of the partnership is to offer brands a product which is not only sustainably sourced but also sustainably and high-quality processed. These are all the key aspects of what Italian companies are expected to offer in order to keep a great competitive advantage.
The other panelists were: A. Cavicchi, President of CID-Consorzio Italiano Implementazione Detox; V. Bovo, Chief Sustainability Officer at HIND; S. Gambi, Journalist and Founder of Solo Moda Sostenibile; P. Rusconi, Sustainability Manager at CPL PRODOTTI CHIMICI s.r.l.