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Keeping in step with cleaner production trend
Issue date:01/04/2009
ATA Journal for Asia on Textile & Apparel - Apr 2009 Issue
Source:Journal for Asia on Textile & Apparel
In response to the mounting consumers' acceptance of green living, international retailers as well as textile and apparel manufacturers internationally have linked the notion pf sustainability with corporate social responsibility (CSR). They have also derived varied approaches to monitor textile and apparel manufacturing activities, putting emphasis on both environmental and economic returns benefits.

H&M green program suggests 40 tactics for suppliers

The ascending trend of sustainable consumption has urged retailers to propel manufacturers for greener production.

In recent years, Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) highlights approaches that bring about environmental gains, cost savings and more efficient use of resources, so as to encourage its fabric suppliers to contribute to cleaner fabric production. Together with BECO and the Wuppertal Institute, H&M produced a tool covering around 40 measures, which can be adopted voluntarily by dyehouses. “Many are directly linked to cost savings and profitability improvements for the mill, making clear the important environmental and financial gains,” H&M explains in its 2007 Corporate Social Responsibility report.

Eleven fabric mills and 11 vertically integrated suppliers situated in India, China and Bangladesh joined the program in 2007.

An early adopter of the H&M's sustainable program in Asia installed a system to separate and reuse caustic soda, H&M reports. The investment in the system paid for itself within two years and the mill now has a closed loop system for caustic soda with no basic waste that would need further chemical treatment.

A Bangladeshi supplier entering into a cleaner production agreement with H&M in 2006 implemented 11 of the cleaner production programme measures in 2007. By using alternative dyes and chemicals, it decreases the use of water, salt and the number of times the fabric needs to be washed. The supplier also replaced the factory's 2,200 light bulbs for low-energy bulbs, and took measures to capture and reuse heat from pipes, machines, heaters and water to significantly reduce energy use and save on costs.

The call of retailers is converged with a more active response from the supplier side.

Taiwanese Everest measures, monitors and books costs to the earth

Taiwan-based Everest Textile in past two years created its own “Everest Sustainability Model (ESM)” to realize its environmental CSR through a series of strategic actions on energy savings, environmental protection and the love for earth taken in its three production plants across Taiwan, Shanghai and Thailand.

The company became a member of the Taiwan Business Council for Sustainable Development (BCSD-Taiwan) in 2007 and co-announced the “168 declaration” with 13 members of BCSD-Taiwan to show their support and determination on sustainability.

Greener production is an integral part of Everest Textile's sustainability model.
The company looked into its products' environmental impacts along the entire lifecycle in the manufacturing process. In the “Everest Sustainability Model” report published in April 2008, the company reported to have assessed raw materials, dyes and auxiliaries with reference to the restricted substances list (RSL) of different buyers and retailers. It also established relevant references for procurement of raw materials.

In process optimization, Everest Textile reduced dyes and auxiliaries, optimized formula to minimize the environmental impact, and enhanced cost efficiency by lowering energy and water consumption.

Process experiments were conducted to determine the optimal process and chemical dosage. It also replaced dryers with dehydrators to reduce heat and energy consumption and enhanced the reuse rate of water in the color-fastening stage. More considerations have been given in post-production packaging. Product re-design has also been conducted.

Moreover, Everest Textile established quantifiable indicators to examine its achievement in cleaner production. It also joined “bluesign” in 2007 to ensure its processes and outputs meet international standards in such areas as resource productivity, consumer safety, air emission, water emission, and occupational health and safety.

Thirdly, the company founded its own eco-efficiency indicators, with reference to definitions given by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). These indicators are based on the general input-output formula:
Eco-efficiency indicator = (Value of product and service produced / Environmental impacts)

Everest Textile uses these indicators to track the correlation between sales turnover and water resource, energy, electricity consumption and waste, and most importantly, water consumption for producing every ton of fabric by a ratio of water used after dyeing and finishing to fabric.

“Sustainability is a critical factor determining the competitive edge of enterprises. Obtaining the bluesign award is a beginning of eco-protection. Everest will continue devoting itself to save energy, to reduce wastes and ultimately to achieve zero emission in Everest's three plants, as we assume our corporate responsibility and preserve the environment in the future,” said Roger Yeh, President of Everest Textile.


Water-to-fabric ratios of Everest plants from 2006 to 2008 [Unit: Weight of water usage (tons) / fabric produced (tons)
To further integrate the notion of environmental protection into the business decision-making process, Everest Textile introduced an environmental accounting system, which also helps cope with various regulatory requirements on environmental protection.

Seven categories of environment-related investments are identified:
  • Operating and recurrent costs,

  • Costs associated with upstream and downstream activities,

  • Environmental management cost,

  • Related R&D cost,

  • Related social activity cost,

  • Environmental loss cost, and

  • Environmental taxes and fees.


    • Expenses and investments incurred due to pollution prevention, environmental protection and resource recycling are also booked and disclosed in the company's financial accounts.

    Lower carbon footprint attained

    A lower carbon footprint is another target area in eco-friendlier production. Representative of the ESM team at Everest Textile told ATA Journal that the company brought down energy consumption some 20% in 2007 and subsequently another 10% in 2008, through adjusting the manufacturing process, machinery modification and heat recovery.

    With various energy-saving strategies in place, the company succeeded in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emission by 15,154 tons in 2007 and 8,667 tons in 2008 compared to the respective previous years. The two-year emission reduction is equivalent to what 3,000 Taiwanese households would have generated in a year.

    The company also invested in cleaner power generation, cutting down averaged monthly GHG emissions from 16,768 tons in 2006 to 14,859 tons in 2008.

    Everest Textile is delighted with achievements made in cleaner production. Moving forward, it has planned to intensify greener product development this year.

    More international organizations and research institutes are also eager to help Asian manufacturers put into practice environmental protection as much as possible.

    NGOs explain how to conduct cleaner production assessment

    The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) refers cleaner production as a preventive business strategy designed to conserve resources, mitigate risks to humans and the environment, and promote greater overall efficiency through improved production techniques and technologies.

    It is more than a mere end-of-pipe treatment, i.e. treatment of air emissions, wastewater and solid waste. Manufacturers can reduce pollution load with end-of-pipe treatment, but they do not usually recover the lost raw materials or optimize the resource use. End-of-pipe treatment, therefore, is often expenditure, whereas cleaner production potentially can bring more economic benefits.

    To start with, a cleaner production assessment is needed before a manufacturer can map out what to do to implement eco-friendlier production, according to the Viet Nam Cleaner Production Centre (VNCPC) suggests. Established in Vietnam, the VNCPC is a member of the UNIDO/UNEP network of national cleaner production centers.

    Key areas in eco-friendlier production
    Objectives

    More efficient & less polluting production

    Strategies
    ‧Waste minimization
    ‧Pollution prevention
    ‧Green productivity

    Approaches
    ‧Substituting different materials
    ‧Modifying processes
    ‧Upgrading equipment
    ‧Redesigning products

    Benefits
    ‧ Reductions in energy and materials used bring direct savings in production costs
    ‧Lower costs incurred with less waste generated
    ‧New and improved market opportunities can be available as more international retailers and buyers are interested in greener textile and apparel products
    ‧Company more competitive
    ‧Enhanced corporate image
    ‧Cleaner production is often associated with better factory floor management, occupational health and safety conditions for employees

    Source: UNEP and VNCPC


    A top-down approach with company management's commitment is needed to drive a thorough review of production operation and subsequent changes to reduce the environmental footprint of manufacturing activities of the company. In addition, awareness-raising and training programs may be needed for general staff so that they will support and follow new measures required in the implementation stage.

    Experts in the UNEP advise a cleaner production (CP) team should be set up and decide the scope and emphasis of a cleaner production assessment (CPA).

    The entire process flow is under review to identify problem areas and good practices. It indicates the housekeeping status of the enterprise as well.

    In the next step, detailed material and energy balances should be made to provide a quantitative recording of material and energy inputs and outputs.

    Material balances provide an inventory of material flows (raw materials, chemicals, water, energy and etc.) entering and leaving a manufacturing company. Costs are assigned to waste streams identified. Here, biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), concentration in liquid wastes and other material content are monetized.

    The CP team then needs to find out reasons behind the existing situation and possible solutions.

    Identifying practicable options

    The UNEP advises that preventive options without generating wastes are more desirable than measures to recycle/reuse wastes.

  • Waste reduction at source


    • - Good housekeeping

    - Better process control

    - Material substitution

    - Equipment modification

    - New process technology


  • Recycling


    • - On-site recovery and reuse

    - Creation of by-products


  • Product modification


    • - Improving the products

    - Changing packaging


    Feasibility of these options should be analyzed in technical, environmental and economic aspects, and the CP team can identify possible options and categorize them into a) directly implementable, b) need further study, and c) rejected.

    After feasibility analysis and economic evaluation of different options are made, a cleaner production action plan can be drawn up for implementation, monitoring, as well as result assessment and reporting.

    “Cleaner” machinery — users' experiences

    Equipment modification is one way to reduce wastes at the source and more machinery builders are responding to market needs by deliberately designing systems that consume less resources, especially in terms of energy and water.

    An energy-saving solution with an industrial yarn (IDY) machine is suggested by Oerlikon Barmag. It explains that the main energy consumption generally relates to the following components: extruder drive (21% of overall consumption), spinning section (15%), take-up drive (25%) and godet heating (35%).

    The extruder drive offers considerable savings potentials. “We have reduced this consumption by using motors made from superior materials and with an increased copper ratio and hence higher conductivity and optimized ventilation technology, for example”, explains Arnulf Sauer, Head of Electronics & Software at Oerlikon Barmag.

    An Oerlikon Barmag 17E10/24D (175-mm Ø) type extruder can save 3.6 kW per hour this way. When calculated over a whole year of operation, totaling 8,400 hours, this represents a saving of more than 30,000 kWh – so, about US$ 3,800 at US$ 0.10 per kWh. Hence, the extruder reaches the ROI point in less than one year, the company says.

    In the area of water use, advanced and relatively water-saving systems are on offer by various machinery builders, such as Fong's, Monforts and Thies.

    Textured Jersey based in Sri Lanka introduced airflow dyeing techniques with Thies Luft Roto Plus last year to solve the issue of creasing and enhance its competitiveness. “The Thies Airflow technology with liquor rates of 1:4 and 1:5 provides us with a competitive edge over other local manufacturers experiencing larger water consumption, increased costs and three times the quantity of chemicals, plus of course a larger effluent content,” said Shehan Witharana, General Manager – Operations, Textured Jersey.

    The company previously worked with 180-280 gsm fabrics weights, and is now able to work as low as 100 gsm. Production increased to 2.1 million m/month and expected to rise further to 2.5 million metres by this March.


    Shehan Witharana (left) and factory floor of Textured Jersey
    Devanlay, the sole supplier of finished fabrics for the Lacoste brand of apparel, also makes use of Luft-roto Plus to reduce consumption of water at the plant, and improve productivity and reproducibility as well, according to Jean-Christophe Tripier, a knitting and dyehouse manager at Devanlay. Thies describes Luft-roto Plus system is a development in short liquor ratio dyeing technology, meeting today's demands for environmental friendly and cost effective production.

    Huamei Thread Company Limited in Ningbo, Zhejiang province of China, adopts the Allwin package dyeing machines of Fong's that requires a very low liquor ratio, thus consuming less dyestuff, steam, water and help the enterprise to achieve ecological benefits. Huamei Thread is a Sino-American joint venture between Ningbo Veken Elite Group and American & Efird (A&E).


    Richard Yuen
    “The social responsibility is also one of the key issues that the enterprisers in China should take account into their business operations. The success of environmental protection and product quality control hinges not on the government-led regulations, but on overall attitude change within the industrial sector,” said Richard Yuen, Group Vice President (Manufacturing–Asia) of A&E, who added that such an attitude change will translate into more companies seeing these problems as potential business opportunities.

    Ready-made garment makers in Asia may be interested in new eco-friendly ways to achieve shrinking of textile fabrics.

    A redesigned compressive shrinkage sanforisor for both woven (Monfortex) and knitted (Toptex) fabrics was introduced by A. Monforts, offering reduced water consumption for cooling and substantial time savings for blanket changes, as well as increased residual shrinkage and higher production speeds. Thomas Päffgen, Senior Technologist Sanfor Ranges, A. Monforts, explains that water consumption is reduced by 40% to 1.8 m3/h with the new Sanforisor system.

    Greener textile processing is also crucial in reducing environment footprint of textile manufacturing.

    Cotton Incorporated from the USA, for instance, has developed a new bleaching procedure that lowers the environmental impact in cotton wet processing applications. Typical process time for conventional bleaching method is 95-100 minutes, however, the typical process time for this new rapid bleaching method is 70-75 minutes.

    The new technique is applicable to all batch operations including garment, package and jet machines, as well as continuous processing, yet require no additional cost or machinery to perform.
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