Support in development of e-learning course on water and wastewater management in the textile sector

Every year, the fashion industry currently uses estimated 93 billion cubic metres of water, including for the production of the natural fibres such as cotton-based ones. This water use accounts for around four percent of all freshwater extraction globally. If the current trends in water usage continue, this amount is expected to double by 2030. The processing for conventional textiles requires around between 100 and 150 liters of water for every kilogram of fiber. Many of the textile manufacturing units are located in areas which are already or maybe facing water scarcity. This does not only affect the various water users in these areas, but also the industry itself, which still requires water for production purposes.

Over the last years, new water saving production techniques and methods have been developed and are increasingly adopted in the sector. Amongst the various efforts and initiatives to propagate more sustainable production in the textile sector is the regional programme for the Promoting Sustainability in the Textile and Garment Industry in Asia (FABRIC), which is presently coordinated by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in various textile manufacturing countries in the Asian region. As part of the efforts for reducing the sector´s water consumption, GIZ, with the help of adelphi and the Berliner Hochschule für Technik (BHT) compiled a comprehensive intern-based learning programme which aims at enabling textile factor personnel in addressing the challenges related to sourcing and using water as well as reusing treated waste water. As part for this self-learning programme, the users can not only acquaint themselves with common good practices and techniques related to water input, water usage in production as well as waste water management, but also find practical guidance on how to implement these suggested approaches in their own factories.

The programme is available for free on GIZ´s atingi learning platform, not only for textile factory personnel but also to any other interested person.