SUSTAINABILITY
Deepak Goel, Director, Geetanjali Woollens, Mumbai shared that the event was not only wonderfully organized but also
well attended. Some of the Indian participants from the industry were Kuldeep Sahota, GM (Knits), Orient Craft, Gurgaon;
S. Alagesan, Vice President, Quality Assurance, Laboratory Management, Sustainable Textile Products, CSR, Eastman
Exports, Tirupur; Dr. Ruma Chakrabarti, Senior Manager, New Product & Process Development, Sharadha Terry Products
from Coimbatore; E Siva Sankar, MD, Exel Sourcing Company, Tirupur; Piyush Gambhir, QA, Auro Textiles, Solan; and A.
Shekhar Pati, Chief Manager, (Technical & Compliance), Vardhman Fabrics, Budhni.
determine the financial viability of
this technology which has worked well
in Tirupur,” he added.
In various sessions, top companies
and organizations like Archroma,
Oeko-Tex, Lenzing and the ZDHC
Group focused on practical,
sustainable solutions for textile
wet processing, chemical
management and discharge and
pollution. Discussing current issues
surrounding textile wet processing
and the areas where implementation
in the textile value chain can be
accelerated, Elaine Gardiner,
Sustainability Manager, AFIRM
Group and Pentland Brands said
collaboration is the right way to go:
“We are all over-testing when we
could be sharing information.”
Participation from brands/buyers
side was also good enough in the
event as most of the top levels
brands were either on the dice or
in the audience. John Rydzewski,
Director, Global Water Programs,
Sustainable Manufacturing and
Sourcing, Nike, US, highlighted the
pilot implementation of the ZDHC
wastewater guidelines. There were
25 participants in this pilot program
including fabric mills, dyeing houses,
laundry and tannery. This exercise
observed that clear definition of
detection limit, reporting limit and
ZDHC qualified labs are required.
also gave his opinion about the need
for initiatives regarding solid waste
management.
Stefan D. Seidel, Head, Corporate
Sustainability, Puma, Germany,
also spoke about conventional
parameters like compliance rate,
MRSL (Manufacturing Restricted
Substances List) parameters (Puma
suppliers discharged wastewater
compliance rate ZDHC Pilot 2017).
Agata Kostecka, Senior Manager,
Sourcing Strategy, Gap, Hong
Kong added, “Transparency is still
playing catch-up…; everyone seems
to be sharing their tier 1 suppliers,
but tier 2 suppliers are not there
yet.” During discussion, Tracy
Nilsson also briefed, “Apart from
traceability, it is about scalability.
For example, if Gap is already there
with its own initiative, we can focus
on other suppliers.” Looking at the
future of sustainable wet processing,
participants called for increase in
skill set and the investments to do so,
greater data transparency, improved
KPIs and responsibilities taken for
end-to-end solutions. “Collaborati on
is the key,” said Nilsson and shared,
“But I also want to see action –
companies stepping out of their
comfort zone.”
Jayakumar Gopalakrishnan, Head,
Sustainable Initiatives, Pratibha
Syntex, Indore, emphasized how
his company is continuing reduction
in the use of water with the use of
latest technology. Along with water, he
There were 25 participants in this
pilot program including fabric
mills, dyeing houses, laundry and
tannery..” – John Rydzewski, Director,
Global Water Programs, Sustainable
Manufacturing and Sourcing, Nike
John Mowbray, Publishing Director, MCL
News & Media, moderated the sessions well
and also effectively managed the event
Stefan D. Seidel, Head, Corporate
Sustainability, Puma
Jayakumar Gopalakrishnan, Head,
Sustainable Initiatives, Pratibha Syntex
Touching Indian domestic market’s
pulse with sustainable aspects,
GR Das, Regional Head (South
India), Polyester Sector, Reliance
Industries Limited, Coimbatore,
elaborated in his presentation that
Indian consumers are tuned towards
sustainability and are most easily
influenced to change when informed
about their personal impact on
the environment. “92 per cent of
manufacturers agree about the rising
importance of environment while
68 per cent consumers agree that
manufacturers are doing their bit
(significantly higher than global level).
He also detailed the sustainable
initiatives of Recron. “On replacing
33 per cent cotton in one pair of
jeans with Recron Green Gold Eco D
(polyester staple fibres), it saves 3,218
litres of water,” he mentioned.
Happy with the entire event and
focusing on solutions to the issues,
Rick Horwitch, VP, Global Retail
Lead and Supply Chain Strategy,
Bureau Veritas, US, said: “Water
is one of the resources that we need
for life. Therefore, this is a problem
we need to address. I do not believe
the answer is to test our way to a
solution, it is about being smart and
sharing that information…”
Issues highlighted
• Is recycling making the supply chain more complicated?
Can we recycle clothes made from polyester?
• Does the entire industry have the same finish line?
• Chemical suppliers are not as open as they should be
in case of information sharing.
www.apparelresources.com | JULY 1-15, 2017 | Apparel Online India
17