The German Alliance For Sustainable Textiles Launches An Intiative To Work Together For Clean Waste Water In Textile Production
Image Courtesy of Textilbundnis
July 2020 : Berlin, Bonn – Sustainable wastewater management in the textile supply chain is the goal of a new initiative in the Alliance for Sustainable Textiles.
Thirteen alliance members have joined forces, including fashion companies, associations and the federal government.
The Alliance Initiative starts its work today [01.07.2020] and has a duration of two years. The focus countries are Taiwan, Bangladesh, Vietnam, China Pakistan and Turkey.
Chemicals are used in the so-called wet processes of textile production – i.e. bleaching, dyeing and printing.
The substances used are partly health and environmental critical and are often discharged into water bodies in an unexplained manner.
The resulting environmental damage can be significantly greater than, for example, exhaust emissions or solid waste in the manufacture of clothing.
In view of this, the Alliance Initiative aims to improve wastewater management in textile production and combines three approaches:
firstly, to raise awareness of the problem in the factories and to build up knowledge.
Secondly, we need to harmonise the testing of waste water by means of waste water standards and to improve the quality of data.
Thirdly, the initiative aims to cooperate and exchange data between all actors in the supply chain and with scientific institutions.
An important building block for the reduction and substitution of hazardous chemicals in textile plants is chemical and environmental management. A previous alliance initiative has already achieved success here.
Following on from this, the members of the new alliance initiative are now explicitly devoting themselves to wastewater management. "There is still a need for action on the use of chemicals in the textile industry.
“It is therefore good and important that the members of the Textile Alliance work for better waste water management and thus for the protection of the environment, clean waters and thus also for clean drinking water," explains Jürgen Janssen, head of the Alliance Secretariat: "The integration into alliance initiatives will enable progress that a company cannot achieve on its own. It is a strong sign of commitment in the Alliance that the 13 Alliance members launch the initiative despite the difficult Corona situation.
Protection of the environment and reliable waste water data for textile factories exists, with wet processes there are limit values for pollutants in wastewater.
These are set by the respective national legislators, by large brand companies and in particular by independent organisations such as OEKO-TEX, Bluesign or ZDHCFoundation. All three organisations are involved in the new Alliance Initiative and are committed to improving waste water discharge.
