Greenpeace says textile firms hiding toxic trails
By Li Qian |
December 5, 2012, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
TEXTILE manufacturers responsible for some of the most well-known brands on the High Street have been accused of hiding their toxic trails by using government-run wastewater treatment plants.
Greenpeace International says a recent investigation found a wide range of hazardous substances in the effluent of two communal treatment plants.
The research focused on the discharge of hazardous chemicals from industrial zones in Zhejiang Province, where a high proportion of textile manufacturers are located. The facilities in the industrial zones generally send their effluent to centralized wastewater treatment plants, Greenpeace said.
The treatment plants in Shaoxing and Xiaoshan, serving the Binhai, Linjiang and Jiangdong industrial zones, dumped a wide range of hazardous substances into the Qiantang River, it said.
Many international brands source their products from facilities within the industrial zones, including Zara, Metersbonwe, Levi's, Calvin Klein, Esprit, Marks & Spencer, Gap and JC Penny, the environmental organization said.
Tests on water samples taken from discharge pipes revealed that processed effluent from the two plants contained toxins that were harmful to human reproduction and could cause cancer.
The plants process 2.1 million tons of waste water per day.
The results of the investigation were published yesterday in a report "Toxic Threads: Putting Pollution on Parade," which claims that facilities were exploiting complex wastewater systems to hide scrutiny of their manufacturing processes.
The use of communal treatment plants makes it extremely hard to trace the discharge of hazardous chemicals to specific facilities, Greenpeace said.
It said people living near textile plants face deteriorating health and pollution of soil and water. In water-abundant areas, some communities had even been relying on the local government to deliver drinking water. Despite villagers' efforts to complain, local governments had made little effort to root out the problem, Greenpeace said.
Hu Jian, deputy director of the Shaoxing Environmental Protection Bureau, insisted that the processed wastewater met national standards, the National Business Daily reported.
Li Yifang, of Greenpeace East Asia, said yesterday: "The samples of wastewater taken on site have proven to be some of the most toxic testing results we have seen throughout our campaigning. This pollution must be stopped. Yet identifying whether individual suppliers are responsible for releasing hazardous substances in their effluent is almost impossible.
"This provides a convenient smokescreen for unacceptable environmental practices at individual facilities, including the use and discharge of hazardous chemicals, by the global textile industry."
The dispersal of hazardous chemicals into water systems, both when clothes are manufactured and after they are sold - such as when chemical residues in the products are washed out - can only be addressed by the rapid and transparent elimination of their use at source, the Greenpeace report said.
Greenpeace International says a recent investigation found a wide range of hazardous substances in the effluent of two communal treatment plants.
The research focused on the discharge of hazardous chemicals from industrial zones in Zhejiang Province, where a high proportion of textile manufacturers are located. The facilities in the industrial zones generally send their effluent to centralized wastewater treatment plants, Greenpeace said.
The treatment plants in Shaoxing and Xiaoshan, serving the Binhai, Linjiang and Jiangdong industrial zones, dumped a wide range of hazardous substances into the Qiantang River, it said.
Many international brands source their products from facilities within the industrial zones, including Zara, Metersbonwe, Levi's, Calvin Klein, Esprit, Marks & Spencer, Gap and JC Penny, the environmental organization said.
Tests on water samples taken from discharge pipes revealed that processed effluent from the two plants contained toxins that were harmful to human reproduction and could cause cancer.
The plants process 2.1 million tons of waste water per day.
The results of the investigation were published yesterday in a report "Toxic Threads: Putting Pollution on Parade," which claims that facilities were exploiting complex wastewater systems to hide scrutiny of their manufacturing processes.
The use of communal treatment plants makes it extremely hard to trace the discharge of hazardous chemicals to specific facilities, Greenpeace said.
It said people living near textile plants face deteriorating health and pollution of soil and water. In water-abundant areas, some communities had even been relying on the local government to deliver drinking water. Despite villagers' efforts to complain, local governments had made little effort to root out the problem, Greenpeace said.
Hu Jian, deputy director of the Shaoxing Environmental Protection Bureau, insisted that the processed wastewater met national standards, the National Business Daily reported.
Li Yifang, of Greenpeace East Asia, said yesterday: "The samples of wastewater taken on site have proven to be some of the most toxic testing results we have seen throughout our campaigning. This pollution must be stopped. Yet identifying whether individual suppliers are responsible for releasing hazardous substances in their effluent is almost impossible.
"This provides a convenient smokescreen for unacceptable environmental practices at individual facilities, including the use and discharge of hazardous chemicals, by the global textile industry."
The dispersal of hazardous chemicals into water systems, both when clothes are manufactured and after they are sold - such as when chemical residues in the products are washed out - can only be addressed by the rapid and transparent elimination of their use at source, the Greenpeace report said.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
