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Global apparel brands buy from polluting Chinese firms

11 Apr '12
2 min read

Major clothing brands and retailers are procuring their supplies from Chinese firms that are harming environment by discharging polluted water, according to a report released by five Chinese non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

The NGOs, which include the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPEA) and Friends of Nature and other Chinese environmental campaigners, said they found that 46 of the 48 surveyed multinational and Chinese clothing brands and retailers have bought their products from Chinese textile companies that have poor records with regards to waste discharge.

The report names Chinese labels Anta, 361 Degrees and Youngor Group as well as global brands Adidas, Nike, Armani, Wal-mart, Carrefour, Calvin Klein and Zara among the 46 brands that have purchased their supplies from textile firms with poor waste discharge records.

The study states that the IPEA launched a database of over 6,000 pollution related violations by Chinese textile firms in 2006. The database called China Water Pollution Map was an effort to stop further deterioration of water quality in China.

The Pollution Map cited violations such as discharging untreated sewage in the open, constructing secret discharge channels and falsely operating sewage disposal facilities. All these actions are against the Chinese environmental laws, the report added.

The report suggested that garment companies should use open data and make efforts to reduce pollution along their supply chains.

In 2010, the textile industry in China discharged 2.46 billion tons of waster water, according to a report on China's environment released by the environmental protection authority.

Most of this discharge was from dyeing companies and control of pollution from these units is difficult as majority of them are small- and medium-sized units.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - China

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