Today companies across the whole textile and apparel value chain place sustainable production and higher resource efficiency at the centre of their growth strategy. This may explain the success of the SESEC* project (Sustainable Energy Saving for the European Clothing Industry) whose final conference took place at the end of September in Brussels. The meeting brought together entrepreneurs, industry representatives, researchers, consultants and policy makers to discuss on the most profitable energy efficiency measures. Coordinated by Euratex, the SESEC project developed tools to help clothing companies in understanding and reducing energy consumption. In the opening address Serena Pontoglio from the European Commission, Directorate General for Energy underlined that to reach the Europe 2020 target of 20% increase in energy efficiency no additional legislation at the EU level shall be needed. The current task is to assure effective implementation of the existing framework since most of the EU Member States still have to fully comply with the Energy Efficiency Directive. The SESEC partners presented ready-to-use project results, such as special software tools for companies to start rethinking their energy spending, use of buildings, heating system, ventilation and electricity. 50 companies across Europe have already been audited and/or supported to launch energy efficiency measures. The conference saw 400 participants in training meetings.
