Business

'It may be a tough order for ZDHC 2020 deadline to be met in India and globally, due to the enormity of the task'

NimkarTek has been working towards creating awareness about Roadmap to Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals, organizing a number of interactive and training programs for the industry. In an exclusive interview with Textile Excellence, Ullhas Nimkar, CMD, and Prasad Pant, CEO, NimkarTek Technical Services Pvt Ltd, speak about the progress of ZDHC, and its implications for the Indian textile and dyes and chemicals industry.

Could you enlighten us on the Benchmark study published by the ZDHC Roadmap to Zero, & how this will help in the progress of ZDHC goals?

The ZDHC Benchmark study report released in July 2013 was a foundational work done over a period of time in 2012 at 20 international facilities spread over Bangladesh, China, India, Taiwan and Vietnam to understand chemical management practices, the complexity of chemical inventory and the harmful and restricted chemicalanalyates that can be found in influent water, waste water and sludge. The testing protocol covered the 11 Priority Chemical Groups targeted by ZDHC. A total of 28 effluent and 18 sludge samples were analyzed, and the chemical management practices at these facilities observed. The report highlights the findings of the Benchmarking Project team and the action points that the ZDHC Group plans to undertake in relation to this study.

Some important findings that can be learnings for us are:

1. In most facilities, chemical management practices were in place, but the implementation did not strictly follow the guidelines.

2. Only 11% of suppliers to these facilities had correct & complete MSDS

3. Labelling issues were observed at 33% of the facilities

4. The facilities were conforming to local discharge regulations, but these regulations do not cover the full suite of hazardous chemicals.

5. Approximately 50% of the facilities were recycling their treated waste water

6. Sludge - besides disposal to third party contractors - was also used in some cases as fuel and to power boiler plants.

7. The chemical classes that were detected most were: heavy metals, SCCPs, phthalates, chlorinated aromatics & APEOs. Some Organotins, Chlorophenols, PFCs and halogenated flame retardants were also detected in some facilities.

8. In some cases, these analyates were detected in the influent water as well. Some analyates were higher in the influent than in the effluent.

The conclusions made in the ZDHC Report are:

1. Inspite of RSLs being in place, restricted substances are still present in the formulations used by suppliers -either as intentional or unintentional usage.

2. Implementation of chemical management practices needs to be improved.

3. Complete information on chemical components used in a facility is lacking. Full knowledge of restricted substances in a formulation is sometimes hampered due to intellectual property concerns.

4. Infrastructure and testing facilities are a constraint to scale up more such benchmarking activities in the future

5. The depth & breadth of training of staff on safe handling of chemicals and hazard awareness is unclear.

Further progress based on this study has been envisaged in terms of action for phaseout of the frequently-encountered chemical groups (such as APEOs, PFCs, Heavy metals, phthalates & SCCPs) and implementing best practices for chemical management as a pilot project.

What do you feel will be the impact of ZDHC in India and the work required at the ground level in India to achieve the ZDHC goals?

The ZDHC has announced the 2nd version of their Roadmap in July '13.This version is trying to break new ground in that:

1. It tries to move away from the "zero hazards" paradigm to a "risk" based assessment of hazards that can impact human health and the environment.

2. It now includes other parameters in discharge of effluent such as BOD, COD and TDS

3. It talks of an environment management system to include other resources like water and energy, rather than only hazardous chemicals.

The Roadmap Version 2 has announced 7 Workstreams on which the ZDHC is making progress. Each of these Workstreams has specific milestones, goals and timelines. The impact of these Workstreams in India will be mainly on the dye houses and chemical manufacturers. Dye houses will have to integrate sustainable and environmentally compliant practices in their operations. Best practices for chemical management will have to become the norm rather than the exception. They will now have to be open to disclose more information about their operations and be ready for their facilities to be audited by brands. Effluent compliance will expand to go beyond just traditional parameters like BOD, COD and TDS to a wider suite of hazardous substances. Since ZDHC talks of no hazardous chemicals in the discharged effluent, the facility will have to study even those chemicals that are not directly used in production, such as those for machine cleaning, sanitary, canteen, lab and ETP purposes. The chemical industry will require more interaction and collaboration with brands and dye houses to understand the issues involved. They will have to update their MSDS with complete information, and carry out risk evaluation of the hazardous components used in their formulations. Investments in "green" chemistry and water treatment processes will have to be made. More testing facilities for water analysis may have to be set up in India, and costs for testing need to be made more reasonable.

Can 2020 deadline be achieved in India?

The ZDHC is an ambitious project which will require a huge amount of:

1. Collaboration among all stakeholders

2. Training across the supply chain will be of utmost importance

3. Innovation will be needed in product design, chemistry, fibers & processes

4. Investments in green chemistry, testing facilities, training & education

In today's global market, unfortunately India is not seen by the ZDHC brands as of high immediate actions, as the sourcing is pretty much on a lower scale as compared to China and Bangladesh, as also due to the fact that Indian dye houses and chemical industry are much more knowledgeable about sustainability issues. Due to this, the awareness about ZDHC is very poor in India and we do not see much action here - both by brands as well as their suppliers. So, it will be difficult to say that the 2020 deadline will be achieved in India. To be fair, I feel it will be a tough order for ZDHC to be achieved in other areas also by 2020, since the task is enormous.

How aware is the textile and related sectors about ZDHC & its implications?

As I had said earlier, the awareness about ZDHC in India - among fabric mills, garment exporters and chemical industry is quite poor. This may be due to:

1. Low share in the global market for Indian garment exports, due to which the pressure from brands for ZDHC compliance has not built up

2. Low intensity of NGO activity, including Greenpeace, about environmental issues of textile industry in India

3. Investments made by new units in Zero Liquid Discharge of effluent due to the Tirupur effect.

4. A healthy market share of dyes and chemicals by large multinationals, who are aware and ensure compliance of their products with international regulations.

The ZDHC developments and message has been highlighted through the recent SDC International Conference, and NimkarTek has spread the ZDHC message at various platforms and fora. We had recently organized an interactive meet between a leading brand and major Indian chemical manufacturers in Mumbai on this subject. But I feel that chemical industry associations and textile manufacturers associations should take up this issue with their members more vociferously by organizing more seminars and awareness initiatives. After all the ZDHC is going to impact all of us in the textile trade and our citizens!

It is also important that the Indian government takes a proactive step and upgrades all the laboratories that it had set up to tackle the Eco issues of the 90's. Another round of such investment is already overdue as many laboratories desperately need new modern equipment that is capable of addressing the new testing demands.