SDG Decoded: SDG #6 – Clean Water & Sanitation, Part II
As we continue through our SDG Decoded series, in which we tap the denim industry to see how they’re tackling the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, we found it was necessary to return to SDG #6.
Given the role water plays in denim dyeing and washing, this came as no surprise. Another no-brainer: the dedication companies have developed in finding solutions to help all of the world’s population have access to clean water.
Below, find out what Bossa, Artistic Milliners and Orta are doing to advance SDG #6, and click here to find the first segment for this crucial goal.
Bossa
Carved in Blue: How are you tackling SDG #6?
Özge Özsoy, marketing chief: When you speak of the environment, the first thing to come to mind is “water.” Water is life. Being sensitive to energy and water consumption, our company has taken a great step toward sustainability by combining natural fiber use as part of our Saveblue concept. We save 85 percent of water when dyeing products using the Saveblue concept.
We have also taken the important step of using carbon dioxide instead of sulphuric acid in neutralizing our basic wastewater, and our future objective is to use the carbon dioxide coming out of our funnels.
We have established a co-generation plant and have started generating our own energy, saving energy at the rate of 20 percent. Our co-generation system has not only reduced energy costs but also reduced environmental pollution. Bossa has also developed an environmentally friendly dyeing process known as Dyeart to produce colorful denim fabric.
Our Future Denim concept makes 100 percent sustainable fabrics available and uses the Saveblue dyeing process. The fibers and yarns in the contents of these products include organic cotton, recycled cotton, recycled polyester, Eco T400, REFIBRATM, recycled TENCELTM and post-consumer recycled denim. In this sense, products with both of these dyeing and finishing processes are 100 percent sustainable, which we call the “Denim of the Future.”
Carved in Blue: How do you see this shaping up for 2020?
Özge: Bossa’s recycled production is 11 percent, and our 2020 goal is to increase this value by 3-4 points. In line with this target, we continue process and product development activities.
We will also continue to do some activities, events, collaborations with customers and projects with many fashion designers regarding sustainability. Let’s continue to do our part!
Artistic Milliners
Carved in Blue: How are you tackling SDG #6?
Ebru Ozaydin, senior vice president of sales and marketing: We are engaging with SDG #6 on three different fronts:
1. Reducing/minimizing our water impact: In all our major mills and laundries, 85 percent of our water is recycled. That is 2 million gallons of water looped back per day! With this, all our facilities qualify for Aspirational level—the highest level there is on ZDHC wastewater guideline. We are also working with WWF to encourage best practices of water conservation in cotton farms of Pakistan.
2. Setting context-based water targets: Water experts are increasingly realizing that water is a local issue, and targets for water conservation should be set in accordance with local catchments. Artistic Milliners has partnered with Alliance for Water Stewardship and WWF to study water bodies in Karachi and how to make our water bodies healthy again. The question, then, is not how much can a company conserve, but how much should a company conserve in the context of planetary boundaries?
3. Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH): Artistic Milliners is a signatory of World Business Council for Sustainable Development, WBCSD Pledge for Access to Safe Water, Sanitation and Hygiene at the Workplace. The company conducts regular sessions on WASH in which workers are given awareness regarding water hygiene and means to access safe and secure means of water.
Carved in Blue: How do you see SDG #6 shaping up for 2020?
Ebru: Global water scarcity, as we know it now, first became news in late 20th century. Fast-forward 20 years and the World Economic Forum is still listing water crises as one of the top five global risks in terms of impact. Certainly, more needs to be done.
For years in the past, the conversation around water management has led to some important changes, e.g., listing of accessibility of clean drinking water and sanitation as the human right by the United Nations General Assembly in 2010. However, transformative changes are still required.
In 2020, SDG #6 will evolve from the focus on water reuse and recycling to more advanced scientific solutions of setting context-based water targets (CBWT). While CBWT aims for long-term, the need of the hour right now is to focus on WASH.
Orta
Carved in Blue: How are you tackling SDG #6?
Zennure Danışman, marketing and washing manager: As SDG #6 states, clean accessible water for all is an essential part of the world we want to live in. In line with this statement, we set an ambitious goal: to use 100 percent Indigo Flow.
Indigo Flow, a propriety process to Orta, is the cleanest and most sustainable method of indigo dyeing possible, in which up to 70 percent water saving can be achieved. This process was developed in 2016, and in two years has helped us save 20 million liters of water. Today every new product that we develop in our new collections is dyed with Indigo Flow, and all Orta denim products will be dyed with this process in the near future.
Carved in Blue: What does this goal mean to your company?
Zennure: The SDGs are the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. They address the global challenges we all face, including those related to poverty, inequality, climate, environmental degradation, prosperity, and peace and justice. With the guidance of these goals, Orta aims to create a future where denim is designed, produced, consumed and disposed of in radically different ways. Our handprint reflects our present and embraces our sustainable future.
Art (Design) + Sustainability + Technology: That’s our formula for the change for better.
With this formula in mind, our Orta Blu sustainability platform shares the SDGs, their targets and what Orta does to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all in its @ortablu Instagram account.