Sustainable chemistry
Sustainable
chemistry is the scientific idea that is used to improve the efficiency of natural resources and
used to meet human needs for chemical products and services. It involves the
design, production, and use of efficient, effective, safe, and more environmentally
friendly chemical products and processes.
In other words, it is a process that stimulates innovation across all sectors
to design and discover new chemical, manufacturing processes, and product
stewardship practices that will provide enhanced performance and enhanced
quality in order to protect and enhance human health and the environment.
The chemical management system is a prerequisite for ensuring sustainable chemistry in the textile industry. A good chemical management system must focus on the three main areas of input chemicals, processes, and outputs.
Sustainable chemistry in the textile industry
Sustainable
chemistry can play an important role in sustainable development in textile
processing by avoiding hazardous chemicals.
The management of a good chemical system can ensure sustainable chemistry in the textile industry. So far, the ZDHC Foundation has
a holistic solution to promote an industry running with a safe chemical that
can ensure safe products as well as emit zero hazardous chemicals to a safe
environment.
The
current modern ETP can also ensure zero hazardous chemical discharge but it
will be way more expensive than any other alternative. Thus, the most effective
way of sustainable chemistry in the textile industry is to focus on input
chemicals. If we can detect non-compliant chemicals, we can easily replace them
with a safer alternative if we do not use the hazardous substance
intentionally. Studies have shown that current safe alternative chemicals
require fewer quantities to meet the same purpose of textile processing which
will reduce the chemical burden on ETP. The low chemical load on the ETP will
be effective for running the ETP effectively which can help the industry move
towards ZLD.
Now
our main concern is risky chemicals, but the lack of groundwater will be
another major concern in Bangladesh in the very near future. We need chemicals
with effectively high-performance ingredients so that the rest of the chemicals
are less to wash off. The first step is producing a list of restricted
substances or MRSL-safe chemicals. There
are many organizations that can issue an MRSL Compliance Certificate, but the
ZDHC Foundation has some guidelines and approval processes for becoming a
qualified chemical testing and certification agency. The ZDHC Foundation has
designed a chemical gateway where the industry can find the necessary MRSL-compliant chemicals.
The sustainable chemical which is used in textile processing-
Chemical group | Using area | Purpose of use | Harmful effect |
AP/APEOs | Pretreatment, washing, and finishing. | Wetting, detergency, emulsification | Endocrine disruptor, aquatic toxicity |
Chlorophenols | Finishing | Preservatives, pesticides | CMR (Carcinogenic, mutagenic, and toxic to reproduction) |
Banned amines from azo dyes | Dyeing and printing | Disperse, direct, acid, basic, and reactive dyes | Bladder cancer |
Dyes carcinogenic | Dyeing and printing | Direct, basic, disperse dyes | Cancer |
Disperse dyes -sensitizing | Dyeing and printing | Disperse dyes | Skin sensitization/ allergy |
Heavy metals | Plastic processing, dyeing, and printing/ coating | Dyes and pigments, caustic | Toxic to reproduction, carcinogenic |
Organotins | Finishing | PVC, PU coatings | Mutagenic |
PAHs | Printing, heat stabilizer, etc. | Pigment Black, dispersing agents | CMR |
PFCs | Finishing | Anti-dart, oil, and water repellants | vPvB, thyroid, |
Phthalates | Printing, soft plastic processing. | Plasticizers, leveling agents | CMR, endocrine disruptors |
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