Vietnam: Textile, garment sectors make eco-friendly moves

Viet Nam News via Asia News Network

10:44 JST, June 14, 2022

Vietnamese textile and garment businesses are making a green push with research and development of eco-friendly materials and technologies to adapt to global sustainable fashion trends.

The Ho Chi Minh City-based Thanh Cong Textile Garment-Investment-Trading Joint Stock Company (TCM) now uses recycled polyester, vicose and recycled cotton that are made from recycled bottles, maize, sugarcane and old clothes.

Tran Nhu Tung, chairman of the board of directors of TCM, told Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Sai Gon) newspaper that many fashion brands in the world who were major partners and customers of Vietnam’s textile and garment industry, had shifted to seeking “green businesses” as partners.

He said TCM soon recognized the trend of sustainable fashion, so it decided in 2015 to build a research and business development (R&BD) department.

The company invited South Korean and local experts to help them create new eco-friendly products to meet high demand.

Tung said while many orders have been canceled during the COVID-19 epidemic, the R&BD department helped the company to overcome the toughest time by introducing antibacterial masks for export.

Faslink is another leading company in Vietnam to focus on sustainable fashion.

Since 2008, the company has researched and created various kinds of fiber, including those made from lotus stems and leaves, coffee grounds, peppermint, seashells and coconut fiber.