Ellie Talks Summer Edition – Six Must-Know Insights of the first half of 2024 to reflect on at the end of Summer
In the first half of 2024, the Ellie team has uncovered key insights that are shaping the future of the textile industry. From the power of in-person connections at industry fairs to the importance of persistence in driving sustainable change, our latest podcast episode dives into these findings. Join us as we explore why inspiration is often undervalued, how perfection shouldn’t hold us back, and why circular collaborations are like dating. The journey of innovation and sustainability is moving fast—let’s keep up together!
Bonus Episode: Getting To Know Roosmarie Ruigrok
**NL Blogpost Below Getting to know… Roosmarie Ruigrok Roosmarie is an expert in sustainable fashion and textiles and founder of Clean & Unique. In this interview together with Julie, she shares her journey, insights and the reason why a collaboration with Ellie.Connect was a logical thing to do. Personal and Career Journey Roosmarie describes herself […]
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.