In recent years, the public awareness and concern for the environment have been increased significantly. This has resulted in tougher legislation and more stringent standards to which the industry will have to work. In this paper, the environmental regulatory situation in Hong Kong and the effluent standards in Hong Kong and other counties were reviewed so as to give a word of caution for the local textile dyeing industry. Moreover, various pollution prevention techniques were suggested in order to reduce pollution through elimination at the source rather than treatment or disposal.