Awareness and Training Sessions on Water and Energy Conservation in TPMs of Pakistan

Training Schedule:

Details of the event
A series of training workshops on “Water and Energy Conservation and Best Environmental Management Practices (BEMPs) in Textile Processing Sector of Pakistan” have been conducted in Lahore, Karachi and Faisalabad under the WWF-P project Promoting Better Environmental Management Practices in the Textile Processing Sector of Pakistan. The workshops have been organized to sensitize the professionals of our textile processing industry on benefits of implementing Water and Energy Conservation Measures and to explain the better environmental practices which are being practiced in European Union. These workshops have been carried out in collaboration with CTP, TNO Institute for Industrial Technology and National Environmental Consultants (NEC). Resource persons from TNO and NEC had been engaged to inform the participants about the Opportunities, Process Specific Measures and Cost Effective Techniques to Conserve Water and Energy in TPMs.

The aims of the workshops were to:

• Enable the to understand why environmental compliance is necessary and how it helps in saving money
• Assess the typical environmental concerns of Textile Processing Sector of Pakistan
• Know the Water and Energy Conservation Opportunities in TPMs
• Understand the process specific Water and Energy Conservation Measures in TPMs
• Improve the participants understanding about effectiveness and direct and indirect benefits of implementation of Water and Energy Conservation Measures/Better Environmental Management Practices (BEMPs)
• Share the experiences of the industry about the BEMPs already implemented
• Introduce the opportunities for textile units to get technical assistance available under the project

Workshops participants were trained to:

• Determine the techno-economic benefits and requirements of implementing Water and Energy Conservation Measures/BEMPs
• Comprehend the competitive advantage of implementing Water and Energy Conservation Measures/BEMPs
• Get knowledge of national and international initiatives
• Understand how to select and prioritize policies and procedures for implementation of BEMPs in the textile processing industry
• Benchmark the locally practiced Best Environmental Management Practices with internationally available ones
• Liaise with national and international experts to get knowledge of available technical assistance and environmental technologies relevant to Pakistan

Mr. Anton Kaasjager from TNO briefed the participants about Water and Energy Conservation Opportunities in TPMs. He talked about the Process Specific Water and Energy Conservation Measures in TPMs. He explained the Pretreatment, Dyeing Processes/Machines, Printing and Finishing Processes/Machines, their Environmental Concerns and BEMP options. He also conducted two exercises one at the end of each day about the calculations to estimate the rate of return for a particular BEMP and to list the pros and cons of implementing BEMPs under Specific Conditions.
Mr. Aziz ur Rehman from NEC talked about the findings of Need Assessment Study and he Introduced the BEMPs Manual to the participants.
Mr. Shafqat Ullah from NEC presented and discussed Case Studies with participants for Water and Energy Conservation under Local Conditions (Cost Benefit Analysis). He also presented Case Studies for Implementation of BEMPs under Local Conditoins (Cost Benefit Analysis).
Textile processing sector is one of the most important industrial sectors of Pakistan with regard to production, export and labour force employment. It accounts for 64% of the country’s export, 46% of industrial manpower and 8.5% of GNP. As we have passed WTO deadline of year 2005, the sector is facing the challenge of conforming to international quality standards and abiding by given legislations. This necessitates employment of improved processes that take into account environmental concerns such as cleaner production processes (CPP). WWF-Pakistan has recently initiated a project funded by EU-Small Project Facility on “Promoting Better Environmental Practices in the Textile Processing Sector of Pakistan”. Under the proposed project WWF-P plans to generate knowledge on Better Environmental Management Practices in the textile processing sector, through research and information exchange with EU. This project also aims to promote environmental reporting in the sector through organizing awareness sessions and rewarding industries for their transparency.