UNIDO project in Tirupur – Support For Eliminating Hazardous Chemicals From Apparel Fashion Supply Chains

The stakeholders from the textile and apparel industry convened in Tirupur for a crucial consultation aimed at addressing the pervasive use of hazardous chemicals in India’s textile supply chain.Organized by the Tirupur Exporter’s Association &  DryerTextile Association, this stakeholder consultation is part of a new program initiated by the Global Environment Facility(GEF),  United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and Ministry of Textiles (MoT), focusing on eliminating hazardous chemicals from the apparel fashion supply chain in India.

UNIDO will undertake a project in textile industries in Tirupur with a focus on various environmental issues, also to reduce the use of hazardous chemicals, energy conservation.

A meeting to discuss various aspects of the project held at TEA & DAT. The topic of discussion was circular business models and innovative materials, cleaner production including the energy, water, waste generation, pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions in the textiles sector, the industrial members are more concern on disposal of dry sludges, rejection of salt treatment, ZLD/CETP.

Mr. K.M Subramanian, President TEA, Dr Pankaj Kumar, National Project Coordinator of UNIDO, Mr. P .Gandhirajan , President DAT, Mr T.R.Srikanth, President , Tirupur Export Knit Printers Association, Mr Govindappan.Secretary, SIHMA, Secretary from TEAMA, Mr.Pavan Kumar ASCI, Dr Vijaya Kumar Senior Advisor , Mr. S.Periasamy, Advisor of AIC-NIFT TEA Incubation center for Textile and Apparels, were present in the meeting.

The consultant under the project will visit around 50 industries in Tirupur and prepare a project report under the UNIDO-GEF for the Ministry of Textile.

The major focus is to prevent hazardous chemicals, replace them with substitutes also check how the industries are using process heat applications and water consumption” said KM Subramanian, President TEA.

Dr Kumar informed that the project is in PPG phase, but it will start by end of Dec 2024 or January 2025 and to support all the identified 8 clusters under the UNIDO- GEF for MoT.

Attendees engaged in discussions, shared feedback, and contributed suggestions to further enhance the project’s effectiveness.