Chemicals are widely used in global textile and apparel supply chains: from the cotton fields to the mills and dye houses that make the fabric and garment production. The management of chemicals in multi-tiered supply chains is a complex challenge, requiring many actors to play a role in achieving effective and sustainable solutions.
In 2011, Greenpeace started an impactful campaign, namely “Detox”. The goal was to reduce water contamination caused by harmful chemicals from the global textile industry by targeting and ensuring commitment from major apparel brands.
As a result of the campaign in 2011, many brands committed to achieve zero discharge of harmful chemicals. The Roadmap to Zero Program was established to fulfill the campaign goal and Brands committed to a joint roadmap, one that would transform their value chains.
Sustainable Textile Solutions was assigned by a leading sporting goods brand to assess the feasibility of their zero discharge of hazardous chemicals strategy for production units from 2020 onwards.
A representative sample of 20 mills in Asia got assessed on their capability to achieve key milestones towards legal & ZDHC MRSL requirements during a holistic 3-days on-site assessment of input chemicals, chemicals in the process and the end-of-pipeline solutions.
Each factory received a report summarizing their strengths and identifying opportunities to achieve Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals.
Sustainable Textile Solutions prepared a final report to the brand and:
- Summarized the mill capabilities got evaluated.
- Assessed the feasibility of the suggested roadmap.
- Pinpointed opportunities to refine the roadmap
- Advised an implementation program to support facilities to achieve the 2030 targets.
