SUSTAINABILITY
Burberry funds university to develop
sustainable materials
A fund of £ 3 million has been
granted by the Burberry
Foundation to Royal College of Art
(RCA) to start Burberry Material
Futures Research Group, jointly
established by the two to invent
more sustainable materials, reduce
waste, advance manufacturing and
transform consumer experience.
It will be the first explicit ‘STEAM’
research centre at a traditional art
and design university.
The grant also includes £ 750,000
to expand the existing Burberry
Design Scholarship at the RCA,
to help more students from the
UK and the EU to reach their
full potential regardless of their
financial circumstances.
The Burberry Material Futures
Research Group will deliver the
academic vision for materials
science research outlined in the
RCA’s strategic plan 2016-2021. It
will act as a virtual centre until it
moves to a permanent home in the
RCA’s new building in Battersea,
designed by Herzog & de Meuron,
scheduled to open in 2020.
“The Group will cover a broad
scope of work, from researching
and developing more innovative
sustainable materials to
designing new manufacturing
methods, as well as nurturing and
supporting even more British-
trained design talent,” commented
Christoper Bailey, Chief Creative
and Chief Executive Officer of
the company.
Birla Cellulose's Vilayat unit bags FSC C-o-C
certification
The Vilayat Unit of Birla Cellulose,
a division of the Aditya Birla
Group and a world leader in
speciality viscose staple fibres
(VSF) in Gujarat (India), has
received the FSC Chain of Custody
(C-o-C) certification.
With this, Vilayat has become
the company’s fourth fibre unit
to get the FSC certification.
The assessment was done by
SGS India – world’s leading
inspection, verification, testing
and certification company. The
other units to get this certification
are Kharach Unit in Gujarat, PT
Indo Bharat Rayon in Indonesia
and Birla Jingwei Fibres Company
in China.
What is worth mentioning here
is that all the pulp units of Birla
Cellulose are certified for one
of these key certifications, i.e.
Sustainable Forestry Initiative
(SFI), Forest Stewardship
Council C-o-C and Programme
for the Endorsement of Forest
Certification (PEFC).
“FSC certification is an important
step and in line with our Wood
Sourcing Policy to procure raw
material from certified sources.
We are also one of the first
cellulose fibre producers to
complete a CanopyStyle audit
conducted by Rainforest Alliance
which confirms Birla Cellulose
fibre supply chains are low risk
for sourcing from ancient and
endangered forests or other
controversial sources. FSC
C-o-C is another milestone in our
sustainability journey,” said Dilip
Gaur, Managing Director, Grasim
Industries Ltd.
www.apparelresources.com | JULY 16-31, 2017 | Apparel Online India
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