Textiles imported into the UK face water risks

According to the Financial Times report on May 29, a study by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) pointed out that 80% of the UK’s total imports faced at least moderate water risks and criticized the textile industry’s use of water in the process. The risks it faces are particularly huge due to the pollution and waste problems that exist in the country.
The report points out that companies in China face high water risks in terms of credibility and supervision. There are two reasons for this situation. One is that China has enacted a number of new laws aimed at fundamentally governing China’s water supply problems and strengthening supervision of domestic and foreign water use issues; the other is the lack of coordinated and comprehensive planning within each river basin.
Although the report also pointed out that there are pollution and waste problems in the water use process in many industries such as beverages, food and medicine, it specifically criticized the textile industry and believed that the risks it faces are particularly huge.
China, along with India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, is the UK’s main clothing supplier. British clothing companies rely heavily on clothing from areas along the Yellow River in Shandong Province and the Yangtze River Basin, both of which are China’s clothing production centers but both face growing challenges of water shortages and pollution.
The toxic pollution caused by the supply chains of top apparel brands is well documented. Driven by the Chinese NGO movement, brands such as H&M and Gap have cleaned out those polluting suppliers, but luxury brands such as Dolce & Gabbana are still going their own way.
Since 2012, WWF has been working in China’s Taihu Basin, working with industry and NGOs to improve water quality in a local industrial park. WWF staff who wrote the report said the Jiangsu provincial government has now agreed to expand the scope of the work.
China’s newly introduced water resources regulations are more stringent, which should attract the attention of enterprises and carefully re-examine their supply chains. Last month, the government launched the much-anticipated “Ten Water Measures” to vigorously control water pollution. The textile industry, as well as the printing, pulp and paper industries, were also singled out and criticized.
According to the revised environmental law, in addition to the upcoming increase in sewage treatment fees, factories’ sewage treatment standards are also more stringent, otherwise they will face higher fines. Polluters could be jailed, and small factories with razor-thin profits could be forced to close or merge. Experts point out that the plan is so severe that it has the potential to transform China’s economy and achieve the ecological civilization China has long pursued.