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Irfan Nazeer Ahmad: Results are quite encouraging. less water. We are already collaborating with
We feel proud to share that US DENIM is the first Agriculture University Faisalabad to develop HEMP
organization in the textile world that has achieved as one of the fibers to be used in our product range.
AWS Certification in March last year. It is a natural fiber and, as per initial estimates,
US Group to reduce Inspired by our Holy Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) consumes one third water, as compared to cotton,
during its growth.
saying, “DO NOT WASTE WATER EVEN IF YOU WERE
water consumption by AT A RUNNING STREAM” we have taken lot of The business community must invest more and more
on such R&D related projects.
initiatives to reduce, reuse and recycle process water.
50% within 3 years In terms of reduction, our product development and TEXtalks: Besides AWS, what other sustainability
initiatives is US GROUP taking?
R&D teams at US GROUP are continuously making
Irfan Nazeer Ahmad: As a responsible supplier and
efforts to develop new products based on such
SUSTAINABILITY recipes that would use less water. Similar focus is on stakeholder of our society US GROUP initiated a
8-points strategic plan named “SUSTAINABILITY
the machines and technology, using less water, that
CHALLENGE 2022” at the start of 2020. According to
we would be investing in future.
CHALLENGE 2022 In terms of re-use, US DENIM MILLS was able to the plan, the entire management of US GROUP
committed itself to certain targets to be achieved
save 18 per cent of water through the following within three years, starting from 2020. Water was one
initiatives during the year 2020: soft water recovery of the most important segments of this plan.
The US Group is a Lahore, Pakistan-based company Irfan Nazeer Ahmad: Water quality: The first key step from finishing; alkaline water recovery; and hot water Just for reference, here are the key areas of our
that creates denim and jeans for clothing brand to improving water quality is to start testing it. We reused from the condensate recovery system SUSTAINABILITY CHALLENGE 2022, with targets
leaders who require reliable quality and delivery. By get raw water tested from EPA- approved labs every (CRU). clearly defined, to be achieved by 2022:
specializing in denim, US Group provides quarter. The wastewater is tested monthly. Results i) Water management: Reduce by 50% through
state-of-the-art fashion jeans solutions. are compared with NEQS standards and are found to TEXtalks: How has certification to AWS Standard process improvement and conservation, reuse and
improved your company’s ZDHS and Higg Index
be well within the acceptable NEQS limits. scores?
US Group engaged with businesses, academic Irfan Nazeer Ahmad: We saw a significant recycle WWTP
ii) GHG emissions: Reduce by 40%
institutions, residential communities and public Efficiency: To improve on efficiency, the first and most improvement in our ZDHC score that improved from iii) Energy management: Reduce consumption by
departments. This led them to develop a ‘water important step is to start measuring it. US GROUP 25 per cent to 67 per cent. Higg Index score 45%
stewardship plan’ for the site and catchment based has installed a comprehensive metering system, improved from 63 per cent to 67 per cent. Just for iv) Renewable energy: 20% should be from Solar
on shared water risks. Team TEXtalks International SCADA, on its water extraction point, consumption your reference HIGG Index focuses on seven (7MW)
had a conversation with Irfan Nazeer Ahmad, points and disposal points. Through this metering different parameters and, water is just one of those v) Chemical management: 100% comply with MRSL
Managing Director, US Denim Mills to know more system we are able to effectively monitor our water seven parameters. and RSL; Reduce usage by 20%
about their sustainable goals. usage. As a matter of fact, we have set ourselves to vi) Waste management: Reduce Waste by 25%;
reduce water consumption by 50 per cent within TEXtalks: What role can the private sector play in
TEXtalks: What was the main requirement for three years under our internal plan of managing the water resources and how important it Reuse & recycle; Hazardous waste to landfill must be
achieving the Alliance for Water Stewardship “SUSTAINABILITY CHALLENGE 2022”. is for business continuity? ZERO
Standard (AWS Standard) certification? Irfan Nazeer Ahmad: The private sector has a vii) Materials & technology: Use sustainably grown
Irfan Nazeer Ahmad: The main requirements of AWS Important water-related areas: We also recognize significant and important role to play. Both, on-site materials by 10%; Use recycled materials (5%).
program was to adopt a five-tier plan in order to: important water-related areas that must be and off-site. First of all, we need to raise the viii) Health, safety and well-being: Continuous
• Gather data and understand the challenges that considered, such as the Safari Park Lake. awareness level on this subject with all stakeholders improvement in total recordable injury rate; lost time
we face as a shared community and make them realize about the water scarcity, injury; training man hours; capacity building; and
• Commit ourselves, as an institution, to the cause of Water governance: To improve water governance, we water availability and water quality. clean drinking water for all as per WHO standards.
saving water and make a strategic plan involved various stakeholders, both those within the
• Implement the plan in true spirit with clearly facility as well as outside, and talked about our A sense of emergency needs to be declared based Significant improvement has already been made in
defined objectives, and with responsible persons shared water risks. on the data available which is quite alarming. All these areas during the year 2020. We will be
nominated to achieve targeted objectives by defined industrial units, as a starting point, must install flow publishing the achieved numbers on our website in
dates Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH): We ensure meters / SCADA to capture the actual data. Unless coming weeks. The declared data would be
• Evaluate the performance on periodic basis clean drinking water, access to sanitation for all our we have the real numbers available we will not be auditable by third parties.
• Communicate and disclose our efforts on water employees and further intend to provide access to able to make any conservation / improvement plans.
stewardship to all stakeholders, including data. clean drinking water to those in our catchment. The business community must invest in the kind of Team TEXtalks International thanked Irfan Nazeer
Ahmad for his valuable time and it was great to
technologies that use the least amount of water learn more about the sustainable initiatives taken
TEXtalks: Describe the key steps you have taken to TEXtalks: How do you see the results in water possible. Furthermore, new products should be
improve water sustainability? saving, after the implementation of AWS? developed based on fibers and recipes that consume by the US Group and paid best wishes for the future
steps to make the world more sustainable.

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