Green garments: Sustainability in the supply chain
Asian textile firms are seeing opportunities to go green and save money. Initiatives have helped factories in Bangladesh improve their environmental performance by cleaning up production, while the new administration in China is putting manufacturers under increasing pressure to improve environmentally sustainable practices.
If there is one country where the need to improve environmental performance in clothing and textile production is clear, then it is surely Bangladesh.
With more care and attention paid to industrial processes and premises comes improved safety and working conditions - and after the recent Rana Plaza factory building collapse, Bangladesh knows it has to raise its game.
But such changes can be made. Firms in Bangladesh saved US$83,000 on average annually after an initiative led by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) helped factories improve environmental performance by cutting their water, energy and chemical consumption.
Its cleaner-production initiative, which began in 2009, has now involved assessing more than 50 dyeing mills for resource efficiency upgrades, an IFC spokesman in Bangladesh told just-style.
On average, each assessment led to "factory investment of about US$40,000, and in turn saved US$83,000 in a year. A factory on average saved 70,000 cubic metres of water annually," he said.
Through the initiative, the IFC has staged awareness campaigns among participating factories on how to save resources, especially water and energy, simply by making low or zero cost operational changes such as increased boiler efficiency, water metering, insulation of pipes and reusing cooling water.
As the project gained credibility, the number of factories participating rose; it has now reached 50 - a "testimony to factories' willingness to invest in cleaner-production upgrades," according to the IFC.
Mohammad Hatem, first vice president of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), called the project a "good technique" to support the textile sector. The IFC is planning to meet BKMEA officials soon to share the outcome of its work, he said.
As a follow up to cleaner-production, the IFC has kicked off a programme called the Bangladesh Water Partnership for Cleaner Textiles (PaCT) targeting the textile wet processing sector. It will build factory capacity, share technical knowledge, and give access to financing for cleaner-production investments while creating a platform for national dialogue on sustainable water use in the textile sector, according to the IFC spokesperson.
Bangladesh's cleaner-production initiative ends in 2014. The IFC is now running similar initiatives in China's and Cambodia's wet textile processing sectors.
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Sustainable practices in China
The World Bank body is pushing on an open door in China, with the new administration in Beijing putting manufacturers under increasing pressure to improve environmentally sustainable practices.
The World Bank body is pushing on an open door in China, with the new administration in Beijing putting manufacturers under increasing pressure to improve environmentally sustainable practices.
A good example is Shaoxing, a city known for printing and dyeing located in Zhejiang province, near Shanghai. The local government in April announced a scheme (to be undertaken until the end of 2014) to push more than 200 local printing and dyeing factories to reduce water pollution by 30% from 2010, and increase the rate of the average use of recycled water to over 35%.
To achieve this goal, the local government listed 58 sustainability indicators, including waste water volumes, gas treatment technology, solid waste management, as well as environmental risk prevention policies. Factories failing to meet these requirements by the end of 2013 will be forced to close down.
Factories in Shaoxing's Binhai industrial zone are the major target. In December last year, these factories were accused by global environmental activist Greenpeace of discharging thousands of tonnes of sewage daily into Qiantang River, a key drinking water source in Zhejiang province.
Some factories in the city have already been investing heavily in waste treatment improvement, and are not only confident of meeting these local indicators, but of complying with new national standards.
One such rule, released by the ministry of environmental protection and taking effect in January, imposes "discharge standards of water pollutants for dyeing and finishing of textile industry".
According to the law, the 'chemical oxygen demand' - an indicator of organic pollutants in water - in sewage must be below 200 milligrams per litre, down from the previous 500 milligrams.
"We have invested over CNY30m (US$4.7m) in waste water treatment since our company was established in 2005, and this year we plan to invest another CNY10m (US$1.57m) to comply with the new standard," said Chen Yuming, president of RGB Printing and Dyeing, a key Shaoxing player. Chen added future investment is inevitable as "environmental laws will be stricter" in future.
Green production in India
Meanwhile, in India, the industry itself is pushing green production, aware of the potential commercial benefits, especially as regards outsourcing.
Meanwhile, in India, the industry itself is pushing green production, aware of the potential commercial benefits, especially as regards outsourcing.
Cotton - India's leading fibre crop - consumes 5% of the country's cultivable land, but also 54% of total agricultural pesticides. Awareness of this problem has fuelled the development of more organic cotton cultivation.
Manufacturers such as Aditee Kalra, director of Mumbai-based Elan Apparels Pvt Ltd, have used such supplies to create eco-friendly fabric and garment production.
"All our fabrics are certified eco-friendly in the way they are manufactured. Third party certifications ensure that the entire manufacturing process, from procurement of raw material to processing the yarn, to dyeing is all done in a manner that is eco-friendly," she told just-style.
And there have also been green initiatives in man-made textiles too. Birla Cellulose, Aditya Birla Group's umbrella brand, has been promoting its eco-friendly viscose staple fibre, with production in Canada, Thailand, India, Indonesia, China and Laos.
It has developed backward integration of waste into pulp; captive power plants; in-house production of major chemicals for viscose staple fibre manufacturing; and an in-house engineering division for new project implementation. It also operates its own plantation to source cellulose pulp.
Designer Anita Dongre uses Birla Cellulose fabrics in her designer wear. Today, Dongre's Liva clothing line is dedicated to garments made of eco-friendly fabric.
There are also examples of Indian eco-production for denims, notorious for chemical use. When brand Mafatlal Denim Ltd introduced its eco-friendly collection in 2011, managing director Rajiv Dayal announced the aim was to "constantly work towards reducing our carbon and water footprint."
He said the company was compliant with Indian environmental standards, those of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO 14001) and the International Association for Research and Testing in the Field of Textile Ecology (Oeko-Tex).
Deepika Govind, a New Delhi-based designer, launched organic denims in 2012 produced with a plain rinse wash with a simple enzyme in the wet process, using a 100% natural dyeing process with natural organic indigo dye.
The central government has been helping these developments, with its commerce ministry introducing Indian standards for organic textiles (ISOT) in 2012.
The goal here is guarding against 'green-washing': Kalra said carbon credit public relations scams, using waste incinerators disguised as renewable energy and dummy recycling projects were among "latest corporate hoaxes".
She added: "It is more prevalent in the unorganised retail segments. One must look for certified eco-friendly materials and insist on certified products [in the case of textiles] from bodies like GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) and OE (Organic Exchange)."
