Last Month, our founder, Steven Bethell, had the honour to be this year’s keynote speaker for the Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles Association (SMART) Summit in Dubai. 

Steven spoke about the Threats, Opportunities and Responsibilities of our Industry. One of the biggest Threats in the industry are the false narratives currently promoted on the media promoting a false narrative, which pushes to tax or stop the export of secondhand clothing into West Africa.

The Opportunity is what the future holds for our business, and the incredible opportunities we have to help stop climate change. “After 25 years, I am so excited about what is to come in the future. For the first time, brands are seeing that used should be a part of the new economy. That second hand can be an input into new manufacturing. This concept of the ‘circular economy’ is now moving from theoretical to actuality” said Steven. He added “The most exciting moment of our business is being able to sell the waste.”

Lastly, the Responsibility lies with each and everyone of us to put work in and create a higher standards for ourselves and our industry. We were recently audited by Nike, and although we have a facility recently built by the Indian Government, we had 31 NCs. “It was hard work to address the NCs, but worth it. We now have a better facility and we are a gold standard company. We as a group need to take the responsibility of raising the standard of our facilities as it will raise our industry” said Steven. 

We encourage you to become a member, in order to join us at the next convention; and to have the ability to learn from leaders in the industry and get the support you require from the SMART team on different types of issues and opportunities. We hope to see you at the next Convention!