Brazil is amongst the largest silk cocoon and yarn producing countries in the world. Sericulture is labor intense and plays an important part in the Brazilian economy as it is contributing to poverty reduction by generating income especially in rural areas.

‘Proyecto SEDA’, implemented by the Argentinian National Industrial Technology Institute (INTI), is part of the EU funded flagship program on Triangular Co-operation ADELANTE and aims to contribute to poverty reduction in Latin America and the Caribbean through sericulture with a sustainable approach and added local value.

The project focuses on promoting decent work and economic growth by providing capacity building, tools and needed technology for sericulture in order to promote the development of a sustainable economic activity adapted for the most vulnerable.

In the framework of the project, Closed Loop Fashion conducted a field trip to Argentina and Brazil to visit stakeholders along the supply chain, from mulberry farming, silkworm rearing and cocoon harvesting, reeling, research labs, silk waste spinning and weaving to assess in depth the challenges the industry is facing and to develop a recommendation report on suitable solutions for the integration of Circular Economy strategies and how to add value to silk products by implementing more sustainable practices. Silk itself is a very interesting raw material with very diverse application areas besides textiles, but also different types of production waste, whose further usage entails so far untapped economic opportunities.