Table 5 Sustainable Business Practices Adopted by Firms

 Launch of schemes by the Government at the national level.

Provision of subsidy by government towards technology upgradation.

Regional pollution control regulations by the government

Follow environmental standards.

Follow emissions, effluents and waste management techniques.Redesigned pollution and waste control instruments.

Following the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), Better Cotton Initiative (BCI)

Reduction in water consumption.

Installation of biogas plants.

Replacement of old motors and old pumps by energy efficient motors and pumps which resulted in huge savings in terms of cost for the firms.

Replacement of old fans by energy efficient plants in humidification plants.

Installation of heat exchangers.

Savings in steam through installation of heat recovery in dye house.

Short term Total Quality Management (TQM) projects to reduce processing of dyes.

Setup Reverse Osmosis (RO) plants to optimize water conservation, metering system across water distribution network.

Proper demarcation of wet and dry waste.

Invest in wastewater reuse and recyclable technology. Follow EPA rules for hazardous waste handling

Decrease in firm’s energy emissions, water consumption and waste reduction.¹

Positive impact on firm’s environmental performance

Invest in R&D to explore methods to minimize energy generation and waste disposal in production process.

Installation of plants for recycling polyester in which polyester fiber made through plastic bottles and recycled materials.

Mechanical vapor recompression technology which leads to savings of up to 80% energy at zero liquid discharge plants.

Separate environment management team and professionals

Total Quality Management (TQM) projects to improve recovery. Providing education to employees on bad practices.

Targets given to production for less cuts and defects as it leads to wastage. Based on waste generated, waste management team to check if they can reuse that waste.

PIP (Productivity improvement program) to audit day to day manufacturing process.

 Develop environmental strategy based upon competitors.

Diversify into new market segments to maintain competitive position .

Introducing new environmentally oriented products.

Take initiatives to redesign products to be environmentally sustainable.

Use of green materials in dyes, additives and other processes

Switched to organic cotton and sustainable fabrics where water consumption is less

To reduce water consumption and waste use of liquid indigo instead of powder for dyeing

Registered under e-waste by government, collect all bio waste and use them for agriculture.

Waterless dyeing and processing that only uses scCO2 (super critical carbon dioxide) to replace water as carrier of dyeing.

Condensate recovery system installed in process house to reduce fuel.

Increase in market share

Expansion of global and domestic business

Thereby improved firm performance.

Use leftover material for other activities postproduction,

Useable waste used inside company itself

Waste generated during spinning process is sold for further use for making low grade yarns and other home furnishing items.

Use of organic cotton waste to make recycled bags and t-shirts, Recycling waste fabrics.

Sludge in form of dry waste packed and transported to secure landfill sites where solid waste gets treated.

Effluent Treatment Plants (ETP) and Sewage Treatment Plants (STP) for treatment of wastewater.

Disposed water from dye house used for gardening purpose.