ATIRA conference discusses ZDHC in textile industry

Extending his best wishes to the organisers and the participants of the conference, Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani said, "I am sure that the theme of the event will not only be pondered upon, but will be acted upon in the near future by the textile fraternity for a balanced environment."

The event was attended by a large section of decision makers from the textiles, dyes and chemical industries. Chief guest HJ Vyas, additional industry commissioner, Government of Gujarat congratulated ATIRA for holding conference on such important issue. He informed that the Industries Commissionerate has many schemes to support the industry, which should ensure compliance to environmental standards.

Guest of honour, Mukesh Shah, joint secretary - Climate Change, Government of Gujarat, informed the participants about the various initiatives of climate change department.

Shailesh Patwari, chairman, Naroda Enviro Projects Ltd (NEPL) described the foreseen scarcity of usable water and need to work towards addressing it.

Prasad Pant from ZDHC emphasised on responsible textile manufacturing through sustainable chemicals management. Gautam Shah from Reliance Industries Ltd presented sustainable textile production at Reliance.

Dr. Bharat Jain, chairman, Gujarat Cleaner Production Centre (GCPC), talked on resource efficiency and cleaner production strategy for environment management.

As part of the event, participants took a tour of ATIRA facilities of Eco lab, Calibration lab, Composite and Heat & flame labs.

In the post-lunch session, there were five informative talks beginning with Dr. Ramesh Kumar of Welspun who spoke on responsible production through sustainable water and chemical management. Dr. Syamal De of Atul Ltd described conservation of precious natural resources through zero liquid discharge. Abhisek Bansal from Arvind Mills Ltd shared ZDHC implementation experience and benefits at Arvind. Dr. Mahesh Dalal, convener of conference, ATIRA informed on ZDHC targets and third-party testing.

Practical insights on Chemical management implementation was presented by Dr. Siva Rama Kumar Pariti from Sustainable Textile Solutions, UK.

The conference ended with a panel discussion and brainstorming for sustainable production.

Besides representatives from the government, industry associations and environmental experts, the event saw participation from several companies including Arvind Ltd, Ashima Dyecot Ltd, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd, Bharat Vijay Mills (BVM), Bansal Textile Mills, AM Textile, Aarvee Denims, Hemlines Textile Export, Reliance Textile Division, Welspun Ltd, etc. (RKS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India