At a time when natural resources are limited, consumer expectations have changed and become more mature, and European policies and the market demand significant changes in production and consumption chains, Pontetorto continues its innovative approach to raw materials, products and waste based on “Reduce, Reuse, Renew and Recycle,” i.e., the principles on which this training plan focused.

The goal achieved by the project, which ended in May, was to actively involve all personnel (at various levels with greater focus on Quality Office Employees and Department Managers) and to increase skills through training in Circular Economy for the simplification and optimization of processes in compliance with the main standards that require attention to these aspects. This was an important and ambitious “investment” that will indirectly impact the entire supply chain on which Pontetorto bases its production, creating synergies and a network of communication with the various stakeholders, in order to fully seize the opportunities that come from a market that is increasingly attentive to eco-sustainability.

“Pontetorto has always pursued a sustainable policy at every stage of the process,” highlights Jinro Nomura, President of Pontetorto, “with constant investment and above all with a very clear vision with respect to a new culture of doing textiles. We were born in 1952 proposing a formula of circular economy ante litteram and today, with the most modern tools and with new technologies, we keep the same posture of the beginnings but with a contemporary and often pioneering attitude. We have chosen to avoid the liturgy of sustainability and approach the topic seriously and factually. Thanks to the collaboration with Formall, we have completed a very ambitious project that lasted almost a year and that today has made us more mature and aware.”

“This was a very important project,” stresses Elisa Bianchi of Formall, “because in less than a year we managed to train as many as 95 workers, with different levels of depth depending on their role, on the topic of the circular economy for a total of 540 hours of training. 100 percent of the participants obtained the final certificate of transparency of skills, and the totality of participants expressed appreciation of the course taken through the satisfaction questionnaire. Personally, and I can speak on behalf of the whole Formall, I am very happy with the project that has just been concluded and in particular with having met such an important reality as Pontetorto, a company that is extremely attentive and sensitive to a topic that will become increasingly important for the textile sector and not only, and that will hopefully become everyday life for companies.”

The ENCIRCLETEX BY PONTETORTO course is focused on achieving optimal management to promote circularity and sustainability by integrating them extensively into the textile supply chain. ENCIRCLETEX BY PONTETORTO stimulates change within the entire system towards a Circular Economy, powered by sustainable and safe materials and products.

The training plan aims at:

• Involvement of all workers aimed at the acquisition of theoretical, methodological and contextual skills designed to give awareness to the entire workforce about the priorities of integrating the concepts of circularity and sustainability in all phases of design, procurement, production and sales in order to pursue a new paradigm based on the Circular Economy.
•  The development of analytical, implementation and relational skills and to the acquisition of technical and practical skills necessary for the application of the procedures provided by the organizational model that is integrated with standards of quality, environment and eco-sustainability, in compliance with ethics and health and safety in the workplace, with a view to continuous improvement.
•  The specialization of the components of the Quality Department that contributes to the organization of the process of control of design, procurement, production and sales in order to ensure the technical-qualitative characteristics of the products according to ISO 9001, ISO14001, GOTS, OEKO TEX, BLUESIGN, GRS, RWS, 4 SUSTAINABILITY standards, further implementing reuse, decrease of textile waste and promoting the adoption of biological material flows, reintegrating into the biosphere.

Just a few years ago, the European Commission identified textiles, clothing and fabrics, as a “priority product category for the circular economy.” In February 2020, textile waste recycling became an integral part of the Circular Economy action plan set out in the Green Deal, the European Union’s plan to transform the continent’s economy and way of life and become climate neutral by 2050. The time deadline set by the EU Commission for all member states to reach the target for separate collection of textile waste is Jan. 1, 2025. Our country for the third consecutive year is first in the Circular Economy comparison among the five largest economies in the European Union, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Poland.

Therefore, this project based on Circular Economy becomes both a goal and a driver of development for both Pontetorto and the production district of Prato by encouraging the formation of certain and stable supply chains from processing to waste destination and reuse.