Zero-carbon production a long way to go: Sustainability Conclave

“Globally, textile industries are rapidly moving into conscious progress to avoid endangering its resources. Companies are implementing better manufacturing practices which reduces carbon footprint, and water and energy consumption. At the same time, we can see increased investments in research and development to create eco-friendly raw materials and produce environment friendly finished products,” Muthusamy Gunasekaran, Technical Customer Service Specialist - South Asia, Thailand & Middle East, Lenzing Group, said during the panel discussion on ‘Process innovation: Making production eco-friendly and circular’ at Sustainability Conclave 2022.

Today, industries are working on the best industrial practices for optimising the production process and reducing the usage of resources. They are also working on alternative renewables like solar power, wind energy, RO system in recycling wastewater, Gunasekaran said at the conclave organised by Fibre2Fashion.

Because of newer technologies, water consumption in industries has reduced drastically. For example, water consumption was earlier around 100 to 120 litres per kg of fabric, which has now reduced to 40-60 litres per kg of fabric.

Gunasekaran said that efforts from groups like ZDHC are being accepted globally with open arms. In addition, many external agencies are closely working with international brands and supply chains, supporting them in managing chemicals and resources. But the textile industry still has a long way to go to achieve zero-carbon production process.

“In fact, there is a need to create awareness as to what being zero-carbon actually means. There is a lot of room for improvement in sourcing of raw materials and energy reduction and efficiency,” Gunasekaran said.

He pointed out that there is general awareness and push from the consumers seeking responsibly made products, legislation and focus by governments, and more and more organisations are incorporating sustainability in their commercial roles.

Speaking about renewable electricity, he said that currently there is no technology that can be utilised at scale. “We need to move away from fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas to become net-zero. However, we do not have enough sustainability biomass or alternative commercial scale technologies. We also need to redesign our existing production process to work with more green electricity in future.” He stressed on the need for implementation of technologies at higher scale to conserve water and to avoid emissions.

Talking about pressures for making production more eco-friendly, Gunasekaran said, “there is some level of pressure from selected retailers and brands who have set ambitious targets. There is pressure also from industrial bodies and NGOs. Even awareness from consumer level is highly demanding today. They are looking to shop something that is eco-friendly and sustainable. Mills are asked to use GOTS approved dyes and chemicals and they even deploy third-party agencies to audit their facilities.”

However, he added that in reality most of the industries are still not doing enough. “It is not only from the demand side that sustainability needs a push, but brands should be open to bear the cost for eco-friendly products. Before we get into economies of scale, we have to pay for innovation and scale-up and it has to become a norm. So, we need companies to go beyond and think of sustainable products.”

Finally, he said, the most important challenge today is that there is no level playing field. “For sustainable products, companies like Lenzing are competing against products that are made using subsidies fossil fuels—coal, oil and gas.”