Environmental and social benchmarking for industrial processes in developing countries: a pilot project for the textile industry in India, Indonesia and Zimbabwe

Abstract

Industry is increasingly being required to meet stringent social and environmental specifications in the international market. A number of industries in developing countries fear that unless they meet these requirements, they will lose their competitive edge in the international markets. The objective of this article is to present a newly developed methodology by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) which enables members of private industry in developing countries to assess their own performance in terms of environmental and social parameters, as well as to evaluate their performance against a set of global norms. This paper will present the said approach for assessing industrial processes through a case study from the textile industry, i.e. more specifically, woven fabric finishing (cotton), conducted by UNIDO in India, Indonesia and Zimbabwe. This article is based mainly on a report published by UNIDO in 1998.

Modelling the Non-Linear Energy Intensity Effect Based on a Quantile-on-Quantile Approach: The Case of Textiles Manufacturing in Asian Countries

“…In this regard the role of energy intensity has been investigated in several economic sectors, including transportation [32][33][34], manufacturing [35][36][37], development [38,39], information and communication [40,41], agriculture [42,43], etc. Considering the constant demand for textiles and clothing, as well as the significant impact of the textile industry on economic growth in many countries, empirical evaluation of the contribution of the textile industry to growth, and its growing environmental impact, have been identified in several studies [13,44], particularly for developing economies [14,[45][46][47]. Among them, You, Cheng and Yan (2009) [48] examined the role of the textile industry and its environmental impact in China.…”

Alternative solutions of industrial wastewater management in the textile industry

“…A reduction of a mere 1% in water consumption across the textile industry would result in more than 2.5million m 3 of water saved per year and an equivalent reduction in water discharged to the environment and the associated disposal and treatment requirements. 11,12…”

Relationship between organisational value addition and environmental sustainability performance in an Indian pulp and paper manufacturing unit and its supply chain: a longitudinal case study

“…The survey is conducted at one point of time and does not evaluate the overall sustainability performance of a company over a period of time. One study (Marc Diebacker, 2000) is on comparing the three factories (one in India, one in Indonesia, and the third in Zimbabwe). Marc analysed the three factories in terms various environmental parameters.…”