Sustainable innovations in textile firms - A step towards greater growth and increased customer trust

Sustainability has become an important component in today’s age and time. Most organisations are treading the path towards sustainability, and textile firms in particular have started incorporating various innovative sustainable solutions that would help them grow and build trust amongst customers. The textile industry’s GHG emissions contribute to the phenomenon of global warming, making it even more crucial to prioritise the adoption of Green energy. Adopting and implementing sustainable innovation practices should start with the production ecology. This also incorporates the environmental aspect, which covers land, air and water. Firms should adopt modern practices to conserve all three aspects.?

Taking care of Air around us

Textile businesses can restore the production ecosystem?by reducing their product carbon footprint (PFCs), which measures the total greenhouse gas emissions generated by a product. This will enable manufacturers to establish a specific limit for carbon emissions and establish the base to reduce/remove carbon emissions from production operations. Another way is to track the product life cycle emissions, with which firms can know the level of emissions that would be produced in manufacturing the product. This is much needed because the manufacturing sector is responsible for one-fifth of carbon emissions – consuming half of the world’s energy sources – and there is an urgent need for manufacturing companies to address the challenges of decarbonisation.

Water conservation is paramount

Another way is through?water conservation?- Optimizing and maximizing limited water supply by recycling it for multiple processes. Since textile companies need large volumes of water, which is essentially indispensable for their production, they should carry out proper water management practices with an aim of reducing and recycling whenever possible. Recycling and conserving water is a priority at Welspun India, we recycle around 7 billion litres of wastewater annually, and store rainwater in the rainwater harvesting ponds at Anjar enabling zero dependence on community freshwater resources for our manufacturing processes at Anjar.?

Sourcing renewable energy

Using renewable energy sources can also help decrease greenhouse gas emissions, which would help mitigate climate change and reduce air pollution. With the increasing availability of renewable energy (solar + wind) in the country, industries should prioritize green energy over conventional sources. Installing energy-efficient building systems and equipment would also play its part by reducing energy demand.?

Greener methods in logistics

Last but not least is to have?sustainable supply chains?– businesses should focus on sourcing suppliers that are geographically closer to the firm premises to reduce emissions within the supply chain. Adopting practices like green purchasing, eco-design, etc., can help. Since the supply chain in textiles is labour-intensive, another critical aspect of an eco-friendly supply chain is to educate workers about sustainability. Circularity in supply chains and the use of a triple bottom line (3 BL) in the supply chains of textile industries would be another good move towards sustainability.?

Adopting sustainable innovations in the entire process right from scratch would help firms build customer trust and increase their credibility. Nowadays, majority of the consumers are knowledgeable about sustainability practices and aware about the importance of it, so customers would love supporting and purchasing products from businesses who are doing something for a greener environment for future generations.?

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