Textile production

4.5.2. The European Commission’s document Europe 2020
The European Commission has presented a Europe 2020 strategy which includes a roadmap towards a smart, sustainable and inclusive Europe. This contains, among other items, seven flagships, including Innovation Union and Integrated Industrial Policy for the Globalization Era. The research and innovation strategy will cover ideas to the market, a broad definition of innovation, integration of supply chain and demand measures, and a multidisci- plinary approach. There will be new EU programmes (e.g., Horizon 2020) and competiveness for SMEs, which will provide big opportunities for the textile sector. Under the heading Integrated Industrial Policy for the Globalization Era, the industrial innovation policy comprises: (1) more timely developments and commercialization of technologies, (2) innovation in traditional manufacturing, (3) e-skills for advanced users and encouragement of clusters and (4) better cross-border cooperation. Another important item is emphasis on structural changes in the EU textile, fashion and textile goods sector.¹⁷
4.6. Future challenges for the textile industry
The world population has just passed 7 billion and is estimated to increase by a further 4 billion by the year 2050. This means that there will be a steady increase in the demand of fibre consumption to cover market needs worldwide. A number of alternative sources are available to cover the future needs. The first is natural fibres, such as cotton and wool. These fibres will form an important source for fabric production, but their share of the total virgin fibre production is estimated to decrease significantly due to the revised priorities of the usage of land areas worldwide. The second source is oil-based synthetic fibres. It is difficult to predict exactly how long the world’s oil supplies will last. Synthetic fibres have a great advantage over other types of fibres because they not only satisfy the requirements of traditional textiles, but also open up new uses for fibres in technical and industrial applications. The third source is man-made cellulosic fibres produced from renewable resources originating from forest products, which means that sustainable development is possible. The fourth source is recycled natural, synthetic and cellulosic fibres. Recycling is gaining ground because of environmental issues. However, it will fulfil its potential if and when industrial solutions are found for chemical recycling of man-made fibres. The fifth source is biopolymers (e.g., corn starch-based fibres). This is an exciting new field and, at present, development and commercialization of these types of fibres is in full progress. In future these fibres will be the viable substitutes for synthetic fibres in many applications.
It is not generally expected that there will be a strong need for new generic fibres. The main challenges that the textile industry faces are as follows:
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To be highly innovative.
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To use environmentally friendly materials and processes.
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To be highly efficient with high productivity.
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To have a leading-edge R&D agenda.
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To exploit new technological frontiers.
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To produce highly functional and high performance products.
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To produce highly designed products.
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To have strategic partnerships with many non-traditional industrial sectors.
According to DuPont, in the coming decades the emphasis on textile developments is expected to be in the fields of: (1) safety and protection, (2) electronics and communication technology, (3) high-performance materials and (4) coating technology. Much development work remains still to be done in the fields of technical textiles and high-functional textiles. A number of themes are discussed in the following sections.
Some of the important factors having impact on the next generation of textile products are shown in the Fig. 4.3, showing the challenges the textile industry and the textile research centres will face. There is a strong need to establish close partnerships between textile companies and the textile research community in order to maximize the benefits of these partnerships in terms of innovation and growth. Fibre and textile technology has tremendous potential for creating synergies with other industrial sectors – for example, biotechnology, communication, space technology, optics and hightech materials – thereby contributing towards new fibre-based materials for the twenty-first century.

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4.3. Factors impacting the coming generation of textile systems.