3rd Capacity Building for CLOTH partners – France
For the third capacity building for CLOTH partnership, the objectives were to better understand and meet Éa éco-entreprises’ network. The cluster is gathering more than 180 eco-companies in various sectors such as waste, water, air quality, renewable energies, polluted sites and soils, etc. Silvia Kabaivanova, Chairman of Bulgarian Fashion Association attended the capacity building.
On 3rd may, an inter-clustering session was organised with guest clusters CAPENERGIES and NOVACHIM in order to present to CLOTH partners the variety of clusters in France. The session focussed on the clusters’ business models and tools to build member loyalty.
Over two days, the programme aimed at also showcasing the fashion ecosystem of the region, through Éa’s partner FASK, the regional network of fashion brands and manufacturers based in Marseille. To illustrate such industry in the region, the partners visited 13’Atipik workshop, employing today 40 workers from various social backgrounds to manufacture garments for brands with un-used fabric, combing a perfect balance of social and environmental values.
Finally, the partners visited Pellenc ST factory in Pertuis where a demonstration session of their optical waste sorting machines was presented. The company, active globally, allocates a significative part of their turnover to RD&I projects to keep developing and improving their waste sorting rates.
Additionally, Refashion, through their regional contact point, was part of the delegation in order to present to the partners the functioning of the Extended Producers Responsibility (EPR) mechanism in France, yet to be transcribed in other EU states before the upcoming 2025 EU-regulation.