Two of the world’s largest clothing retailers – Walmart and H&M – have pledged to work with their Chinese textile suppliers to reduce water, energy, and chemical use in their supply chains.
The two companies are joining roster of brands and retailers including Gap, Levi’s, Nike, Marks & Spencer, and Li and Fung who are already partnering with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a non-profit environmental protection group, in a bid to clean up one of the biggest sources of industrial water pollution in the world.
They have committed to help selected manufacturers adopt NRDC’s Clean by Design programme, which has identified ten simple, low-cost practices that can dramatically cut pollution in textile dyeing and finishing mills.
Wal-Mart agreed to give its suppliers an added push at yesterday’s annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative, while H&M launched its initiative several days ago in Shanghai.
NRDC hopes to use the purchasing power of well-known brands and retailers as a lever to reduce the environmental impacts of textile production.
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By GlobalData“People don’t think of the fashion industry as polluting the environment like chemical or steel manufacturing, but in fact it is one of the biggest polluters in China,” explains Linda Greer, director of the health program at NRDC and Clean by Design creator.
The textile industry holds the dubious honour of being one of the biggest sources of industrial water pollution in the world. Dyeing and finishing processes devour vast quantities of clean water and energy, and discharge a host of toxic chemicals if not properly treated. On top of this, textile manufacturing consumes and pollutes as much as 200 tons of water per ton of fabric, and produces considerable CO2 emissions.
NRDC’s Clean by Design techniques claim to not only reduce water pollution and energy use, but also help plants run more efficiently and use fewer resources, saving companies significant money.
The mills chosen by Walmart to implement NRDC’s programme will provide benchmark data on water and energy use at the start of the assessment and will track and verify reductions they achieve.
Likewise, H&M, which operates more than 2,000 stores worldwide, will undertake pilot efforts at key mills before bringing the effort to scale in its supply chain.
NRDC is also urging other major companies in the apparel industry to become more familiar with their supply chain and develop policies that reward textile mills for reducing their environmental footprint. Such policies also reward the most efficient and cost-effective manufacturers, it suggests.
