Waste Colonialism is fundamentally not about the movement of material but about who has the choice and who benefits when material is moved. Using Kantamanto Market in Accra, Ghana as a case study, this presentation will explore the nuances of waste colonization, offering a deep dive into the global secondhand clothing trade and why circularity must go beyond a materials-based framework to truly revolutionize the way we think about and “deal with” clothing waste.

Earlier this year, FTA launched the Canadian Circular Textiles Consortium (CCTC), which envisions an integrated, circular system that eliminates global textile waste, and advances the transition to a regenerative economy. In this session you will learn about this national platform, its intended impact, and the various approaches that have been developed in partnership with Deloitte and CCTC strategic partners.

Canada has yet to develop a policy that protects the consumer from unsubtantiated green claims on various products, including fashion. In this session we'll discuss policy changes that are helping to curb greenwashing in the EU - what's gone well and mistakes that have been made - and discuss how regulation in Canada will help ensure that green claims are substantiated so that the 'good actors' have a competitive edge that is both valid and better for people and planet.

Material Exchange is on a mission to get deadstock back into circulation for the benefit of brands, suppliers, consumers, and most importantly, the planet. Discover how they are working to drive responsibility and impact reduction in apparel and footwear sourcing by bringing unwanted deadstock to the marketspace in a transparent, digital manner.

While sci-fi techno visions and dystopian forecasts of the future fail to paint a hopeful picture worthy of collective action, Fashion Futures 2040, a new project by the international Sustainable Fashion Consumption Network, provides four inspiring visions of a sustainable future portrayed through the lens of the fashion consumer. These positive and Utopian scenarios illustrate the potentialities of a world in which planetary boundaries are respected, the concepts of limitless growth and human exploitation have been retired, and affluent consumers have dramatically reduced their clothing acquisition and accumulation. This session will explore specific scenarios that target a 50% reduction in the production and consumption of clothing from the perspective of brands, policymakers, and educators. Join us for an experiment in degrowth.

Implementing GHG reporting in the fashion industry fosters accountability among brands, empowering them to make informed decisions that prioritize sustainability. By measuring and reporting their emissions, fashion companies can establish benchmarks, set reduction targets, and track progress over time. This data-driven approach helps identify hotspots and guides the adoption of sustainable practices throughout the supply chain.

Conscious textile chemistry is a transformative approach for the textile and fashion industries. Innovations in eco-friendly chemical treatments, dyeing processes, and chemical recycling of waste are revolutionizing some of the manufacturing processes behind the production of clothing. To understand how the industry can reduce environmental pollution and promote a circular economy, we'll hear from biotech startups Algaeing and Evolved By Nature to learn about green dying and printing, and alternative finishes.

Traceability and transparency are the building blocks for creating change in the fashion industry - we can only fix what we can see. From understanding the true cost of your products - both social and environmental - to knowing who is making our clothes, and then disclosing that information to both regulators and consumers, we can ensure negative impacts are being accurately measured and ultimately reduced. Trustrace and Vlinder will help establish the why and how of it all, and help you determine which area you will want to dive deeper into in the breakout sessions that follow.

Due to the fast-growing number of laws and regulations, and influx of conscious consumers, there is increasing pressure on brands to manage and disclose information about their products, their material origin and impact, as well as the social and environmental impact of their supply chains. To do this, brands must implement traceability across their global supply chains, but up until now, there has not been a clear roadmap on how to do that successfully. In this interactive workshop led by TrusTrace, a market-leading platform for supply chain traceability and compliance, participants will learn what it takes to develop successful traceability programs tailored to their specific needs, as well as discuss best practice with peers.

Policy, legislation, and regulation are all dynamic tools for developing new opportunities for your organization and for changing the available capacity for value across entire global markets. Using the New York State (US) Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act (the Fashion Act) as a lens to demystify the relationship between your organization and regulation for the fashion sector, this session will help you better understand the tools, resources, and best approaches to achieve compliance and build value for your organization.

This session is specifically for anyone who works in marketing, communications and storytelling as we will dive into the UN Playbook on Sustainable Fashion Communication. With greenwashing more prevalent than ever before in the fashion industry, and as policies are increasingly coming into force, this breakout will use the Playbook as a framework to help guide you to communicating environmental claims.

What role do NGOs play in motivating fashion brands to decarbonize their supply chains? In this session, you will hear from both Canopy and Stand.Earth on their different approaches to working with fashion brands in an effort to build leadership, accountability and action.

On May 24th, 2023, the Science-Based Targets Network released their first round of guidance on the new Science-Based Targets for Nature, a way for businesses to track and take action on their impacts on land, water, and biodiversity. Join August Wichert of the UN Global Compact Network Canada for an overview of the new framework, what it means for the fashion industry, and how science-based targets can help your business thrive.

This session will address the intersection of human rights and environmental due diligence and how improved labour conditions can help transform the fashion industry, which continues to fall short on addressing human rights, environmental action and climate targets. With an increased focus on strengthening social protection and empowerment of rights’ holders, Global Rights Compliance, Oxfam Canada and Quizrr will discuss how some brands will be more prepared for Canada's forthcoming robust corporate accountability legislation and others brands are far from ready to be held accountable.

In this session, Lis will share global case studies of transformative circular practices that companies are experimenting with, and the lessons learned. She will demonstrate how a holistic and empathic view, that puts workers at heart, can provide a framework that helps to reduce the divide between social and environmental impacts.

Currently, less than 1 percent of textile “waste” is recycled into new textile products. Circular collaboration is the key to achieving scalable, circular solutions to fashion’s waste problem. Combining Bank & Vogue’s expertise in sourcing, sorting and grading used clothing, and Renewcell’s groundbreaking Circulose® fibre, they have worked together, and with leading brands like Levis, H&M, to divert waste from landfills and incinerators, and to make fashion more circular.

In the morning of Day 2, a small group of Canadian brands and retailers will come together in a closed door, invite-only roundtable session to discuss climate related challenges, engage in peer-to-peer learning, and explore the potential for pre-competitive collective action to increase impact,facilitate by Upswing Solutions. In this session, Upswing, on behalf of FTA, will share key learnings and opportunities for pre-competitive collaboration between companies in the fashion industry.

The current lack of regulatory oversight in the fashion industry is coming to an end. New legislation is on the table for managing textile waste, eradicating forced labour and protecting the health of people and planet. This brief session is an introduction to the three breakout sessions that follow, and will provide attendees with a window into EPR, human rights and chemical legislation.

Who is responsible for the global textile waste crisis? This breakout session will examine fashion’s reverse supply chain, and how EPR has the potential to help solve this systemic problem. Facilitated by The Or Foundation, this workshop will demonstrate how an EPR policy can help, or hinder, as we look towards a solution for Canada’s textile waste.

Alden Wicker, independent journalist and fashion chemical expert, and Cassie Barker, Senior Program Manager of Toxics at Environmental Defence, will be co-facilitating this breakout session to map out the journey to removing PFAS from our products. They will provide an overview of the legal landscape, globally, as well as what’s happening in Canada. They will share case studies on successful as well as failed efforts, and look to participants to brainstorm the obstacles that brands and retailers face to becoming PFAS-free. Together you will map out the steps that brands and retailers can take to get from a place of confusion to confidence that your products won’t have PFAS in them in the future.

Is your business ready? The Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act comes into force on January 1, 2024. In this session, co-facilitated by World Vision Canada, a global organization with an extensive history advocating for Bill S-211 and working to combat child labour in supply chains, and Global Rights Compliance a not-for-profit specialising in international humanitarian, criminal and human rights law to address and alleviate acute humanitarian need. In this breakout, participants will learn what this Act means for their business, who is affected, and what the future looks like.