Recently, a market research and survey, targeting the leading textile dealers, showed that water is the major and the most serious long-term environmental challenge for the textile industry, around the globe. The point is highlighted in a research by Ecotextile News, restating the views of leading stakeholders of the industry including; Puma. Adidas, ZDHC, Benetton, Inditex, H&M, M&S, the China National & Apparel Council and the Sustainable Apparel Coalition etc.
The performed research was about the challenges in terms of environmental impact and sustainability in the textile industry, globally. Covering a wide range of area the research contains reviews from different apparel business to NGOs, industry groups and chemical suppliers from Germany, US, China, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Ireland and many other parts of the world.
By the end of research, scarcity of water was found to be the major issue highlighted by all. The head of global operations of Adidas, Glenn Bennett said that “the ever growing issue of water scarcity.” On the other hand the senior director of Sustainable innovation Gap Inc. from US, Ms. Melissa Fifield said that “We believe water is a human right, and are taking steps to address our impact while also ensuring safe access to clean water for communities touched by our business.”
At the same time, Ingvar Larsson, the CEO of Scandinavian fashion brand “Lindex” said that with no doubts water is the gravest environmental threat that is fronting the textile industry. He added that “Water is a human right and it is crucial for our industry. Lack of water will have major penalties for the industry and the people who live where we operate.”
In the meantime, the CEO of Archroma, Alexander Wessels suggested that “an interesting concept would be to promote free water for populations and costly water for industry.” The Archroma is a well-known name in the field of textile chemical business. Similarly, Eric Hopmann, the CEO of Dystar contended that “the huge amount of water that is required in textile production and the quality of effluents will require continuous improvements.”
From the Chinese perspective, Mr. John Cheh, the vice chairperson and CEO of Esquel Group said that “It has been estimated that in China, close to 20 % of the wastewater is generated by the textile industry. We must, therefore, focus on water conservation, wastewater treatment, and recycling.” The Esquel group deals with the textile manufacturing.
Here another point is that the water consumption and pollution related to textile industry is the main theme of the forthcoming Planet Textile event. This event is planned to be held in Bangalore, India on 24th of May 2017. Expected is to see some major advancement for the textile industry in terms of saving water and measures/ideas that can help the textile industry to cope with the scarcity of water as a major issue in textile industry, around the globe.
