The Impact of the Textile Industry on Communities Across the World
According to the European Parliamentary Research Service[1], more than 1,900 chemicals are used in the production of clothing. 165 of these are deemed to be ‘hazardous to health or the environment’. The World Bank says that 72 of these toxic chemicals are solely produced by textile dyeing[2], and that the colouring and finishing textile processes account for between 17 and 20% of total industrial water pollution[3].
Whilst these figures seem concerning outright, it is important to consider the wider impact of textile waste pollution on the communities and habitats that rely on the water systems’ health for their livelihood.
According to research carried out in 2016, the discharge of untreated waste into water bodies constitutes 80% of the total emissions of the textile industry[4]. Crucially, these are made up mostly of textile dyes, which have a very high solubility in water[5]. This makes them very difficult to remove by conventional methods once they are in the waterways.
While the discolouring effects that these dyes have on rivers and bodies of water are a travesty, one of the primary problems caused by these dyes and chemicals is more fundamentally devastating for aquatic ecosystems. The dyes prevent the penetration of light into the water, which reduces the rate of photosynthesis and therefore the levels of oxygen present in the water[6]. This causes sickness and even the death of plants and animals that live in these water systems.
Further to this, the impact of other types of chemicals used in textile production on communities who rely on these water systems is severe. An elderly man from Savar, Bangladesh, discussed his experiences of the water in his neighbourhood. ‘This water causes sores on the body’, he said, before noting that people in the area who have washed their hands or faces in the water have experienced fevers and skin irritation[7].
A common example of a toxic chemical used in the textile production process is hydrogen peroxide. While it is well known for its widespread use in hair bleaching products, this basic chemical is also often used in the process of whitening textiles before the dyeing process. Once used, hydrogen peroxide then becomes part of the untreated wastewater released into water systems. Contact with and ingestion of this chemical can lead to gastrointestinal irritation, abdominal pain, foaming at the mouth, and vomiting. This is therefore a typical example of a chemical that can cause suffering for nearby communities and wildlife.
On top of this, the livelihood of communities that rely on these waterways for their sustenance and economic survival is in tatters. For example, fishermen living near dye houses and textile mills along the Qiantang river in China have ‘lost their livelihoods’[8] because of it. The waste material is hugely detrimental to communities along the water systems used by the manufacturing process.
A prime example of this impact of textile waste material are the people who live along the Noyyal river in India. The fishermen here depended totally on the river for fishing[9], where previously many different varieties of fish thrived. Now however, after it was found that the groundwater around the Noyyal river was suitable for textile manufacturing, water pollution from textile factories has taken over. Even in 2007, it was found that fish mortality had become a common phenomenon, and any available fish were small, abnormally coloured due to dyes, and were not edible. Some parts of the river did not support any species of fish[10].
The result of this pollution is that if farmers in this area do not have access to canals to irrigate their crops, they struggle immensely. For example, saline sensitive crops have completely disappeared from the area since the introduction of massive textile waste depositing. It has been suggested that farmers and fisheries in this area had lost a total of ₹352.9 million (£2.15 million) by 2021[11].
It is clear that the impact of the textile industry is significant, but unfortunately it is also a worldwide phenomenon. For example, in Tanzania, high levels of heavy metals and colourants used in textile production have been dumped into the Ngerengere river. There are many communities that live downstream from the industrial complex, and they have had no choice but to use polluted water for domestic and agricultural purposes. Crops have suffered and community health has been compromised by bathing in industrial wastewater. The Kingolwira Ward Community, who live downstream from the textile factory, told Water Witness International that ‘Diarrhoea and waterborne disease is a big problem’ and ‘the water is often very dirty’[12]. This is a product of the textile manufacturing process.
As the above examples reveal, the release of untreated textile waste products into water systems is disastrous for communities that rely on them. A solution is vital for these people and ecosystems.
With funding from the EU, and in collaboration with European partner organisations, Waste2Fresh is developing a closed-loop water system that prevents water that is full of toxic chemicals and dyes from being released into water systems. The water is instead filtered and reused by the manufacturers themselves.
Importantly, this would mean that rather than releasing waste into the environment, the system allows manufacturers not only to filter any water that does get released, but also that they can keep most of the water they used within the closed-loop system, reusing it. This not only reduces the amount of waste material that is dumped into the nearby water systems, but also reduces the amount of water they need to use in their process in the first place.
Some communities may be at a point where rehabilitating their waterways is impossible – but if manufacturers act now and install Waste2Fresh’s system, many rivers and bodies of waters can be saved from a similar fate.
[1] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2019/633143/EPRS_BRI(2019)633143_EN.pdf
[2] https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/614901468768707543/pdf/922610WP0P11950DEL0FOR0GREEN0GROWTH.pdf
[3] https://medcraveonline.com/JTEFT/textile-industry39s-environmental-effects-and-approaching-cleaner-production-and-sustainability-an-overview.html#ref46
[4] https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/10.1142/9789814749916_0076
[5] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2452072119300413
[6] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29933158/
[7] https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/dyeing-pollution-fashion-intl-hnk-dst-sept/index.html
[8] ibid
[9] https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=YucJEAAAQBAJ&rdid=book-
[10] https://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/assessment/files_new/publications/Discussion%20Paper/CADiscussionPaper4.pdf
[11]https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=YucJEAAAQBAJ&rdid=bookYucJEAAAQBAJ&rdot=1&source=gbs_vpt_read&pcampaignid=books_booksearch_viewport
[12]https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5baa3175bfba3e44386d68a5/t/612783e116a30b550198544b/1629979622029/WWI_How+fair+is+fashion%27s+water+footprint+-+FINAL+FULL+REPORT.pdf