Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Additionally, the efforts of involved authorities would be reduced, because they
would not need to inspect dozens of laundries, each having separate boilers and
wastewater treatment systems. In case the centralized services violated environ-
mental regulations, e.g. by using illegal cut wood or improper treatment of waste-
water, this would also draw much more attention of the public, and therefore all
stakeholders involved have interest to avoid such scandals. Last but not least, if
laundries move away from cities and neighbourhoods, impact on local population
will be reduced, such as smoke and dust from furnaces, odours caused by waste-
water etc.
Unfortunately, there are also several problems connected with the establish-
ment of an industrial area. Doubts on general feasibility also shared among experts
of ITEP. Most important issues seem to be financial aspects. The enterprises alone
are unable to take responsibility for initial investment costs. Consequently, this
leads to the question of whether smaller laundries should be allowed to remain in
towns, and only the medium-sized and large-scale companies, with all negative
consequences this may have for the local population would be moved. The size of
enterprises correlates with possibilities to invest in treatment technology. Smaller
laundries have more financial limitations to upgrade technology than bigger com-
panies.
One option to obtain financial support could be a carbon project under an
emission trading regime, such as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) es-
tablished by the Kyoto Protocol. Entities from countries with obligations to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions have the opportunity to invest in projects in developing
countries, which have no reduction obligations. Resulting emission reductions can
be traded and used by those that have to reduce their emissions. In such a way, a
carbon project could for example contribute financing the use of renewable energy
resources and measures to increase energy efficiency in the jeans laundries.
Another concern is the availability of data in order to provide sufficient capac-
ity for steam generation and wastewater treatment. Again, this counts especially
for small-sized laundries that often have no exact information on water and steam
consumption. Therefore, it seems to be sometimes surprising how they can main-
tain their activities. Furthermore, precise data are needed to develop a reasonable
methodology for any climate change mitigation project.
Aside from the question of whether the industrial area will finally be built, one
of the biggest laundries has started activities to reduce the environmental impacts
along with increasing product quality. So far, the vast majority of produced jeans
are sold within the region. Producing textiles of higher quality improves the
chances of reaching further markets. If the company succeeds, it could demon-
strate that upgrading technology reduces not only the environmental impacts, but
also offers economic benefits. Given the potential for replication, most environ-
mental improvements could be adopted by the other laundries.
In future, textile imports from Asian countries are expected to increase. Part of
a successful strategy for continuation of the local textile industry is to conquer
new markets. Entrepreneurs try to establish export routes to several African coun-
tries, but 'ecologically correct produced jeans' of high quality may open opportu-
Search WWH ::
Custom Search