A North Carolina organisation attended a conference at Prisma, visited several district companies, and stopped at the Textile Museum. The day was organised by the national research company Next Technology Tecnotessile. This is the second visit to the province, following the one in summer 2024: “International synergies to promote new development models.”
A delegation from North Carolina, in the United States, visited several companies in the Prato textile district, having ties to the manufacturing economy. Twenty-five members of the nonprofit organisation “The Industrial Commons,” dedicated to the recovery and recycling of textile garments, were guests of Next Technology Tecnotessile, a national research company based in Prato. Their goal was to gain a first-hand understanding of Prato’s integrated supply chain model, which allows for the reduction of textile waste and its valorisation and recycling. The US delegation previously visited the Prato district in the summer of 2024. They also attended the Textile Recycling Expo in Brussels. This week, they returned to the district to explore various topics and also discover Daedalus by Next Technology Tecnotessile, the new semi-automatic technology for sorting and sorting post-consumer materials and garments.
“Promoting synergies and international meetings fosters awareness of our textile district and provides the opportunity to develop potential new collaborations,” explains Andrea Falchini, director of Next Technology Tecnotessile.
At the Prisma conference, Next Technology Tecnotessile and the Municipality of Prato presented their work. This was followed by a guided tour of the Textile Museum, followed by company visits to Filati Omega and Sfilacciatura Goti. This was followed by a meeting at the Trafi Creatività Tessile showroom in Montemurlo and finally a visit to Technoplants in Pistoia. “The Industrial Commons” is a nonprofit organisation based in Morganton, North Carolina, focused on revitalising the local manufacturing economy through a circular economy model. Its approach is deeply rooted in the community and aims to create a closed-loop system for textiles.
The US delegation included Anne Wiper, CEO of The Textile Innovation Engine of North Carolina, and Molly Hemstreet, Co-Executive Director of The Industrial Commons. “North Carolina has a rich textile history,” explains Hemstreet, “and we want to increasingly focus on the circular economy. The visit to the Prato district was useful for understanding the supply chain network, resource management, and support for the circular economy. It’s a model we will try to develop in the United States as well. The goal is to network in the United States and develop an increasingly close relationship with Prato.” Also present at the visit was Tiziano Mazzoni, representing Leonardo, with whom Next Technology Tecnotessile collaborates on technical textiles within the CTNA aerospace cluster.
