Maeba International is the first company in the world to obtain a UNI EN ISO 14021:2016 type II certification, that asserts the recycling of textile waste and a proven of presence of a supply chain able to regenerate that material. ReLiveTex is its dedicated brand
Maeba International was established in 2006 upon the initiative of Angelo Saporiti. Based in Vedelago, (Treviso province), the firm operates in three showrooms/warehouses on a 12,000 sq.mt area.
In large, brightly lit showrooms, one can look at thousands of fabric rolls acquired from weaving mills and brands, duly inspected and brought back to market for sustainable Fashion players to offer them in their collections.
In order to enhance its core business and make it more visible, the company pursued an approach that let it obtain the UNI EN ISO 14021:2016 type II certification.
«At the end of a project aimed at increasing the sustainability degree of our company, we obtained an environmental claim that enhances a wide range of fabrics recovered from Fashion manufacturers and brands» states Savina Saporiti, CEO of Maeba International. «The label shows the specially developed ReLiveTex logo. It distinguishes a unique selection of materials, waste and excess inventories, end-of-life set of samples, which would be potentially treated as worthless waste. Within the logic of a circular economy, exploiting what has already been made and would otherwise be rejected as waste, means we can save energy, water, raw materials and chemicals. As a matter of fact, a garment made of second life materials is more sustainable than one made of specially developed virgin materials».
One logo, one message
Maeba reflected on the message they intend to transfer with the ReLiveTex brand. The result summarizes the green value of this material. «The logo, reproduced on an environmentally friendly and recycled material, shows a weave in which the incoming fabric is a green thread; the subsequent re-evaluation of materials is a white portion, while the return to a new life, evoked by the lime shade of the word “Live”, is a finished fabric ready to be used. This label on a fabric gives our clients the opportunity to prove of their green engagement; their creativity makes a set aside piece useful again».
Certification: an effective instruments against greenwashing
The process Maeba International started is validated by Centrocot, a company based in Busto Arsizio with over thirty years’ experience in certification and support to sustainable innovation.
«The UNI EN ISO 14021:2016 standard» states Stefania Dal Corso, Sustainable Development Manager with Centrocot, «allows manufacturers to give a statement attributable to a product or to an environmentally safe process. As regards Maeba International, the certification covers recovered fabrics from manufacturers who could alternatively treat them as waste; instead, these are inspected and brought back to market. An environmentally interesting project, as it allows reducing the volume of textile waste while offering buyers the opportunity to make garments with an equivalent CO₂ content lower than that resulting from virgin materials made to this aim. It is the first project of this kind that draws attention to a real problem: waste and valorisation in the Fashion Industry. In fact, we are particularly pleased with our support to the company in this process».
