EP16: Fa Quix, Fedustria, The value of sustainability in times of a crisis
The reality today is that times are tough and many companies in our industry are struggling to cope with extreme cost increases, with many being forced to temporarily suspend production. But there are opportunities that can be seized in terms of sustainability.
EP15: Pieter Vanoosthuyse, B.I.G. From linear to circular plastics, how do you start?
Whether you are an SME or a large company, transforming your business from linear to circular does not come overnight. Once you’ve defined your circular vision, where do you start? Where are the quick wins and what are the main challenges to overcome?
For this 15th episode, we welcome Pieter Vanoosthuyse, business development manager for recycled polypropylene at Beaulieu International Group.
EP14: 8 tips to build strong partnerships
Transforming your organization you do not do alone, you need strong partnerships to be successful and to make a real impact.
Ellie.Connect, Ellie’s digital platform, has the mission to unite the industry into 1 ecosystem for change. Ellie.Connect should be the starting point for whoever is looking for connections, inspiration, and information while transforming the organization. It’s your starting point to build partnerships.
EP13: Wouter De Broeck, Alsico, Circularity in workwear, how to take a leap forward by just doing
In the thirteenth episode of the Ellie.Talks’ podcast, your host Julie Lietaer chats with Wouter De Broeck, Sustainability & Communications Manager at Alsico, a producer of workwear and protective wear.
In this episode, you’ll deepen your overall understanding of the workwear industry, get insights into the challenges faced, and even more, discover how you can leap forward by taking action and learning by doing.
EP12: Jolien Roedolf, Herw!n, Social economy as a driver for circularity
In this episode, Julie chats with Jolien Roedolf, a business developer for social and circular entrepreneurship at Herw!n, the sector federation for the social economy. From her role, Jolien is always looking for new ways of collaboration to work towards more circularity.
They deep dive into the topic from the view of social economy and discuss how this can be a driver for circularity. You can expect a fresh view on the topic of circularity, a lot of good book recommendations, and concrete tips on how you start by defining a vision with an action plan and act on this.
EP11: Eva Engelen, HNST, About sustainable dyes & how a start-up doesn’t have to compromise on sustainability
For this podcast episode, we invited Eva Engelen from HNST Jeans to talk about sustainable dyes and how you can implement these without compromises.
Dyeing fabrics is a very polluting process. More and more cost-effective, resource-efficient, and sustainable dyeing alternatives that are safe for people and nature are surfacing. But what are these innovative dyeing techniques? How can we lower the true cost of colour? What are the challenges with developing these new techniques and how to overcome them?
EP10: Aurélie Maes, Maes Mattress Ticking, Implementing change in the family business as the new generation
Ellie’s new podcast series starts with an episode about family businesses and how you can implement change as the new generation.
Family businesses are often different generations with different views. How can you deal with these differences? How do you keep the long-term vision of the company whilst also adapting to the changing times? How to change the mindset to a more open, transparent, and sustainable one?
EP9: Jan Maes, Revor Bedding, Circularity in the Mattress Industry
Conventional mattresses are the cause of a huge waste stream. Approximately 1.1 million mattresses end up in landfills every year in Belgium alone. To encourage producers to think about the sustainable and circular design of their mattresses, an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for mattresses has been in place in Belgium since January 2021.
This is a question that Revor was already working on well before the introduction of the EPR, and to which they came up with the answer in 2019 with the Circular Mattress.
EP8: Ellen Kegels, LN Knits, Slow Fashion, Pre-Order and the importance of Storytelling
Sustainability in fashion has many dimensions. The choice of materials and production processes are probably the most obvious ones, but don’t forget about the impact of your go-to-market, distribution, and stock management.
Maybe you have heard the terms slow fashion and pre-ordering before. New business models are increasingly emerging in the industry, but what do they mean? And more importantly, how do you implement these for your brand? What are the challenges involved and how can you make it successful?
EP7: Alexandra Deraeve, HOGENT, Hemp as a driver for circularity in fashion
In many industrialised countries, there is renewed interest in hemp as sustainable textile fibre from a perspective of bio-renewability, circularity, and local (European) cultivation. The range of hemp products in textile and fashion is expanding.
However, the origin of commercially available hemp products is not always transparent and often involves Asian imports. The revival of locally harvested hemp fibres is still being held back by the fact that no homogeneous fibre quality can be guaranteed.
With the projects Eigen Kweek and Hemp4all, HOGENT wants to tackle the problems and support the revival of hemp as a circular driver for the textile and fashion industry.
During this Ellie.Talk Tex, expert Alexandra Deraeve of HOGENT talks about the projects set-up, the findings, and perspectives for the future.
