Consumers are increasingly considering the sustainability aspects of their textile purchases, as they are becoming better aware of negative environmental impacts with in the supply chain. As a responsible Hosiery manufacturing company, Interloop Limited has been implementing multiple international standards that address environmental and social impacts. It has incorporated the philosophy of sustainable operations as an integral part of its business strategy. Sustainability aspect is always the top consideration in raw material provision, added chemistry and hosiery production practices. In addition, Interloop is committed to reduce the use of energy, lowering CO2 emissions and increasing biodiversity.

Renewable materials are those which can either be manufactured or generated quick enough to keep pace with their fast usage. Renewable materials can be made from natural products or produced synthetically, and often include recycled products.

Cotton is considered as renewable textile material but conventional cotton production imparts significant environmental impacts viz. higher water and land use intensity, insecticides & pesticides and nonefficient agricultural practices. We have planned for incremental use of Organic Cotton, BCI Cotton & Recycled Yarn, leading to increase in our sustainable & renewable raw material inventory.

Enormous increase in industrialization, urbanization and population lead the water to be the most exploited and stressed natural resource. Fashion industry is the 2nd most polluting trade in the world. In textile processing, huge amount of water is used during the procedure to induce good hand feel and aesthetics in the product. It is important for sustainable textile operations to conserve water and decrease water foot print; both direct and indirect. At Interloop, we have always been committed to environmental sustainability and continuing our efforts to conserve water through process improvement and induction of new technology. We are operating in full compliance with all applicable laws and regulations on water use. As we withdraw ground water through deep wells inside our factory premises, each facility measures water withdrawal using flow meters to calculate the internal water usage.

Water is consumed extensively in our dyeing process. We are working and investing on new technological trends to conserve water as well as improve our wastewater quality. In addition, we emphasize on redesigning the processes which include low liquor ratio recipes, reduction in line losses and responsible practices. Besides, we are also considering options to design water recycling.

The textile supply chain involves multiple raw materials producing highly diversified and differentiated products, thus generating tons of solid waste throughout the production process. The variety of solid waste generated by textile sector may range from recyclables & re-usables to hazardous waste. With growing attention to environmental responsibility towards solid waste management, the textile and apparel industry has increased efforts to reduce disposal of post-production textile waste in landfills. Simultaneously, finding alternative methods for disposal of post-consumer textile waste is gaining greater importance.

Implementation of 3R in Waste Management

During processing at Interloop’s manufacturing facilities, an assortment of waste streams and waste products are generated. Interloop has an extensive waste management program underway. Currently, more than 90% waste (including production and non-production waste) is being recycled and reused in multiple ways by various waste management vendors. Due to its harmful nature, hazardous waste is sent to the incinerator for safe disposal. The objective is to minimize waste from all Interloop manufacturing facilities and apply sustainable waste management and disposal methods through the waste management hierarchy of “Avoid, Reduce, Recycle, Recover, Treat and Dispose”.

Energy plays a key role in the economic development in general and in the manufacturing sector in particular. As the global population continues to increase, the world energy requirement is expected to rise 2% annually, over the next 25 years, and so is the demand for cheap energy. After the chemical and engineering sectors, textile is the third largest energy consuming industry. However, it has the potential of saving 23% energy through induction of modern technology and process improvement.

A global economy reliant on fossil fuels and the increase in greenhouse gases emissions is adversely affecting our climatic system. High electricity and steam consumption leads to increased harmful environmental impacts. Energy efficiency is a key element for any organization to reduce negative environmental impacts and increase competitiveness through energy conservation. Interloop relies on both electric and thermal energy during its process operation. Our in-house electricity generation is done using HFO and Natural Gas as primary sources, and National Grid as the secondary source. As for thermal energy, we produce steam from multiple sources including Natural Gas, HFO, Biomass Fuels and Waste Heat Recovery. Interloop is exploring the potential of renewable energy generation and increasing its share in the company’s total energy consumption, on an ongoing basis.

Energy Conservation Projects

Renewable energy is the source of clean, inexhaustible and increasingly competitive energy. Diversity, abundance and potential for use anywhere on the planet are key features differentiating renewable energy from fossil fuels, but the most important attribute is that it doesn’t produce greenhouse gases which are a major cause of adverse climate change. The Earth’s temperature has risen by an average 0.85°C since the end of 19th Century. According to IEA, the world electricity demand will increase 70% by 2040, driven mainly by the emerging economies of India, China, Africa, Middle East and South East Asia. Interloop is well aware of the growing energy crisis and is adopting alternate and renewable sources such as solar and biomass for energy generation, thus adding to our contribution towards minimizing GHG emission impacts due to use of fossil fuels.

The relationship between energy consumption and climate change has been widely recognized. Emission of GreenHouse Gases is a side effect of the production process and has major environmental impacts which cannot be completely avoided, despite all environmental protection efforts. The emissions are subject to control limits laid down by environmental protection agency of the country. Interloop ensures compliance with these limits by taking environmental protection measures and is moving further to reduce the emissions to maximum, through energy conservation efforts.

We determine the total emissions for each plant site at regular intervals and make regular checks to control variations, if any. The direct carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are the result of combustion processes for generation of electricity, heat and steam. We aim to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels by finding alternate sustainable energy sources and production processes. This will not only reduce our environmental footprint but will also lower costs and improve our operational efficiencies.

An inventory of stationary emission sources as well as company owned vehicle-air-emission sources is maintained. An inventory of asbestos, CFC (Chlorofluorocarbon) or any Ozone Depleting Substance (ODS) is also maintained, if required within the facility. The quarterly monitoring of air emission sources is carried out to ensure that emissions are under permissible limits. In case of any deviation, the operation of the concerned equipment is immediately shut down for subsequent remedial measures.

The mass production and final disposal of textiles has resulted in the form of hazardous substances in the air and poisoned land & ground water. It has also resulted in toxic landfills with processed chemicals having devastating impacts on the environment and health of the people. Being the second largest polluting sector after oil companies, the textile industry uses over five trillion liters of water; equivalent to two million olympic-size swimming pools, to dye 28 billion Kgs of textiles each year. Another estimation revealed that approximately 20% of industrial water pollution is the direct outcome of dyeing and treatment of textiles.

Consumers are getting more conscious about the chemicals used in their textile purchases to ensure that dangerous ones are not being used. With the growing DETOX campaign by Green Peace to clean up the textile and footwear supply chain, Interloop has also committed to achieve “Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals” (ZDHC) by 2020. The Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) Program takes a holistic approach in tackling the issue of use of hazardous chemicals in the global textile, leather and footwear value chain.