IMPRESSIONS from a Cross-section

The suggestions that I will make pertain to the dyeing and processing units. There are regulations that require dyeing units to treat their wastewater before releasing into common effluent treatment plants and the units are taking care of the same. There has also been a shift to move to cleaner chemicals that help reduce the toxicity and associated water pollution by the dyeing processes. However, with costs of input water increasing, industry should move beyond just wastewater treatment and explore more efficient use of water. Some of the practices that businesses can adopt are optimisation of processes to reduce water consumption, increase the level of automation depending on finance availability, consider moving to continuous processing rather than batch processing (relevant for SMEs), invest in understanding and implementing water reuse techniques such as condensate cooling water and closed loop systems which are especially lacking for SMEs. Furthermore, better housekeeping measures will go a long way. These are simple to fix but can result in significant savings on water use. There is scope for units to practice rainwater harvesting but there are also regulations prohibiting certain types of units to implement such measures. Perhaps such regulations can be revised.

Businesses will need handholding through awareness workshops about water saving technologies and techniques. Support can also be extended through incentives for water saving and suitable financing schemes.

The textile sector is one of the largest consumers of water in India but more than 70 per cent of the footprint comes from the embedded water beyond the fence, i.e., during cotton production. Textile companies also receive substantial attention for the water quality risk they pose but pollution remains a significant risk at all stages of the value chain.

Commitments to sustainable actions by textile companies are an important vehicle for driving better actions and keep a check on their water usage. But for water, it is important that the actions are meaningful for the location where these textile manufacturing sites are located. Blanket targets for efficiency may lead companies to expend effort in one area of water sustainability when the real effort is required on another. For example, efficiency targets in a location where there is no significant issue with scarcity, but there are challenges with access to water and sanitation may be a misdirection of efforts. It is, therefore, important to drive water stewardship across the entire value chain of textile sectors, calling for textile manufacturers to actively engage with their local stakeholders and cotton farmers within their procurement catchments understanding the local, social, cultural and contextual realities, identifying the water risks and challenges, and structurally driving interventions and adoption of sustainable practices. Collaboration amongst the key stakeholders driven by brands and manufacturers, including civil society organisations, public sector agencies, agriculture experts, standards, communities etc, is the key to stepping up the ambition, drive water stewardship at scale and address the pressing water security challenge in the sector.

AWS Standard provides globally applicable framework for major water users to understand their water use and impacts, and to work collaboratively and transparently for sustainable water management within a catchment context. Through its multi-stakeholder governance processes, the standard provides a 'safe place' to strengthen relationships and build trust between competing water users.