India’s knitwear capital Tiruppur goes green

The textile industry is known to be one of the biggest contributors to environmental harm globally. But what if there was a way to reduce the negative impacts while still providing extensive outputs? Tiruppur, well-known as India’s ‘knitwear capital,’ might have figured it out.

Today, this Tamil Nadu city is able to recycle up to 130 million litres of water every day thanks to its expansive programmes of water reclamation efforts.

Here’s what their initiatives are and what other cities can learn from it.

In the past, the city faced many struggles with pollution from textile industry operations. In fact, in 2011, the Madras High Court called for a ban of nearby dying and bleaching operations due to significant pollution of the Noyyal River.

However, with changing policies and operations, the city was able to reclaim the lost textile activity, and reduce environmental harm. One change in particular was adopting a Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) policy. In simple terms, this water treatment process separates contaminants into solids, resulting in clean water that can be reused.

Tiruppur now does its water recycling through Common Effluent Treatment Plants, also known as CETPs. These are large-scale water treatment plants that serve multiple industrial sites. Some processes in the textile industry also utilise Individual Effluent Treatment Plants (or IETPs), or may use a mix of both CETPs and IETPs. For instance, the total 360 dyeing units in Tiruppur use a variety for their operations, according to the Dyers Association of Tiruppur. The organisation states that they have 60 IETPs and 18 CETPs.

Additionally, apart from extensive water recycling, Tiruppur also has both wind and solar initiatives in place for renewable energy.

While these sustainable activities are what Tiruppur has established for itself, on a broader scale, the country needs large-scale efforts to reduce the negative environmental impact for a major global textile hub like India.

In fact, earlier this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the public on the growing waste from India’s textile industry while calling for stronger efforts to alleviate the current situation. At the same time, he acknowledged the comprehensive efforts of Tiruppur’s authorities.

According to the Textile Associations of India, the PM highlighted Tiruppur, among other cities, for its wastewater treatment and renewable energy initiatives during one of his radio broadcasts, “Mann Ki Baat.”