The ZDHC Roadmap to Zero Programme has published the document for ZDHC Wastewater Treatment Technologies that can be used as a guidance to improve the quality of wastewater discharge in the apparel, textileand footwear industry. The first guidelines were released in 2016. These rules set unified expectations on the quality of wastewater. The apparel, textile and footwear industry uses huge amounts of water in production processes, after which the water is often discharged in a way that harms the environment and surrounding communities. Especially in China, South and Southeast Asia and other production countries around the world, this has become a huge problem over the last few years.
“When we released the ZDHC Wastewater Guidelines, we took the first step for the industry to treat wastewater in a harmonised way. The Guidelines present a aligned set of parameters, limit values and test methods to ensure brands and suppliers are working to the same set of expectations,” says Frank Michel, ZDHC Executive Director.
“Now we are excited to publish the ZDHC Wastewater Treatment Technologies Document for the apparel, textile and footwear industry to support the supply chain in implementing the ZDHC Wastewater Guidelines and help improve the quality of wastewater discharge. We would like to thank Mohan Seneviratne, who wrote and gifted us with this great document,” Michel added. Wastewater treatment is a complex process, and ZDHC hopes that in combination with regional training programmes and other relevant references, this technical overview of wastewater treatment technologies will help the supply chain to close the knowledge gap. It is also intended to motivate wet processing facilities and elevate their knowledge to implement the necessary treatment systems in order to meet the requirements of the ZDHC Wastewater Guidelines.
