American chemical company Dow supported a three-year cooperation project with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and the Dutch ZDHC Foundation to develop more sustainable manufacturing processes within the fast-growing fashion industry in Ethiopia.

Through education, training programmes, and business consultancy capabilities, the project successfully paved the way for improved sustainable chemical and waste management practices along the textile value chain, according to a joint press release by Dow and ZDHC Foundation.

The textile industry is one of the key growth sectors in Ethiopia. In recent years, the country has attracted foreign investments for new textile and garment manufacturing facilities and several international brands and retailers have shifted their textile and garment sourcing to Ethiopia.

“Ethiopia has the potential to become one of the leading textile and apparel hubs in Africa. Alongside this growth, there are opportunities to improve chemical management and prevent water pollution,” said project leader Maimuma Hussein, Dow Industrial Solutions.

“We believe that through industry collaboration and best practice knowledge sharing we can support the textile value chain in implementing more sustainable chemical and waste management practices and make a positive social, environmental, and economic impact in Ethiopia,” adds Cicelia van Rooi, sales director, Dow Industrial Solutions Middle East, Africa & India and managing director, Dow Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd.

The scope of the project was twofold, involving academia and industry stakeholders. First, the project team worked with the Ethiopian Institute of Textile and Fashion Technology (EiTEX), part of the Bahir Dar University, to implement a technical training programme for lecturers and develop a new chemical management curriculum for undergraduate students. The Ministry of Education in Ethiopia approved the curriculum and adopted it as a national programme of studies.

The second project pillar focused on building awareness and capabilities of factory management and workers across the textile supply chain to implement and maintain an effective sustainable chemical management system based on industry best-practice guidelines from ZDHC. To enable a continued and cost-effective support to local businesses and industry professionals, sustainable chemical management consultancy capabilities were set up through a network of trained local consultants.

These companies are now listed as ZDHC Approved Training Providers and can provide the official ZDHC training programmes to the Ethiopian markets. The project was able to establish sustainable structures for training in the environmentally and ecologically responsible disposal of chemicals and waste. The first 100 university students already completed the e-learning curriculum, and managers and operators from 20 textile factories were trained and kick-started the implementation of improved chemical management system processes.

As the project ends, the network of seven qualified chemical management consultants will continue to support businesses and industry professionals with ongoing training and on-site consultancy. All materials developed in the project will remain available to the educational institutions for their further use.

“We gladly worked with Dow and GIZ on this project as it directly supports our ‘Roadmap to Zero Programme,’ aimed at leading the fashion industry to eliminate harmful chemicals from its global supply chain by building the foundation for more sustainable manufacturing,” said Klaas Nuttbohm, implementation director of ZDHC Foundation. “Working together with local stakeholders paved the way to improved sustainable chemical and waste management practices being implemented in Ethiopia.”

The three-year project was co-funded by Dow’s Business Impact Fund. This competitive grant programme designates corporate contributions toward projects designed to help address social problems through our technology and expertise. Funding proposals come directly from Dow employees worldwide, tapping into their unique skills, business knowledge, and diversity of locations and experiences, added the release.

Dow and GIZ have been working together within the framework of the develoPPP funding programme, which GIZ implements on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). In the cooperation project, the public and private partners bundled their expertise and financial contributions and worked closely together in all steps from project planning to the development and implementation of the trainings and awareness-raising activities.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (NB)

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