Mönchengladbach The planned new jeans production of the clothing company C&A in Mönchengladbach was the focus of the Zitex industry get-together in the textile technical center. But companies are also worried about their competitiveness.
Burdens from the CO2-Tax, high electricity costs: The German textile industry sees its competitiveness in danger. At the Zitex branch meeting in Mönchengladbach, company representatives from the state and federal government demanded relief. The EEG surcharge is also criticized. NRW Energy and Economics Minister Andreas Pinkwart (FDP) shared the concerns: “We have to face the challenges and abolish the EEG surcharge. We can’t subsidize one another for years, ”said Pinkwart. Instead, he advocated a contaminated site fund.
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Managing director Markus Simon made it clear how high the burdens are now for the Krefeld company Verseidag-Indutex using a calculation example: “In comparison, the costs of the EEG surcharge are now around 40 percent of the annual depreciation or 75.9 percent of our personnel costs in the field of research and development. At the CO2-The tax we are currently already at 15 percent – and these costs will rise continuously. “
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The example of C&A shows that climate protection is becoming more important in the form of environmentally friendly production conditions. The clothing group will be producing jeans in its “Factory for Innovation in Textiles” in Mönchengladbach from autumn 2021: Together with partners, C&A would like to set new standards in the production of sustainable fashion. “We want to change the clothing industry. It’s about questioning the status quo and developing further, ”said Martijn van der Zee, top manager at C&A. By combining artificial intelligence and digital processes with sustainability, the aim is to set standards for global production – the jeans factory is just the beginning, says van der Zee. The company works with the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences, the Textile Academy, RWTH Aachen University and start-ups, among others. These partners are also involved in the “Textile Factory 7.0” project: The aim is to revive the tradition of the Rhenish textile district at the location – under new framework conditions. “North Rhine-Westphalia will be the new Textile City,” said Aunde boss Rolf Königs, chairman of the Association of the Rhenish Textile and Clothing Industry.
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