EXCLUSIVE: Raymond UCO Denim targeting 60% GHG emission reduction by 2025, says CEO Arvind Mathur

Textiles may not be one of the top polluting sectors in India, yet it contributes towards water pollution, GHG and landfills in a big way. A reason why the textile industry has taken very aggressive target of reducing greenhouse gases (GHG). Arvind Mathur, CEO Raymond UCO Denim, told Business Today that in this sector, many industrial bodies have come up with various drives to promote ESG amongst textile companies.

“Many key brands like Levis, H&M, Kontoor have given their road map for reduction of GHG emission by 60 per cent by 2025 and Indian textile companies are complimenting their target and doing their best to achieve the given GHG reduction target. ZDHC foundation has also initiated ESG drive to help companies reduce the environmental impact of suppliers in their value chains,” he said.

As the textile industry is looking at adopting innovative approaches towards the production processes to reduce carbon emission, Mathur explains that “Going forward, textile mills can maximise the use of post-consumer waste in place of virgin cotton, utilisation of cotton waste as alternate to fossil fuel, use of in-house agro-waste as a fuel, water less dyeing and less water finishing process which will directly impact use of fossil fuel for steam generation.”

In sync with the industry, Raymond UCO Denim is also targeting minimum 60 per cent GHG emission reduction by 2025 compared to 2016 baseline.

“On the environmental front, we are using RSL free chemicals, running a 100 per cent biological Zero Liquid Discharge ETP plant and maintaining a safe production facility. We have implemented various water conservation projects like indirect cooling water recovery, caustic recovery plant, humidification plant with mist evaporative technology, and forced circulation evaporator, to name a few. And even developed a range of innovative water efficient denim products which saves considerable amount of water in fabric manufacturing,” added Mathur.

The company is also using post-consumer cotton waste and fibers made from recycled PET bottles in denim manufacturing which can help reduce load on fresh raw material requirement and helps save resources. To reduce environmental impact and help lower CO2 emissions, Raymond UCO Denim has also started using biomass fuel in the form of pellets made up of cotton waste generated at the facility, and has also adopted the GHG emission protocols for monitoring and measuring CO2 emissions.

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