Textile production requires large amounts of water

Water is required in almost all process steps of textile production:

• the cultivation of agricultural crops such as cotton

• the rearing of animals whose wool or feathers is used such as sheep and geese

• the production of synthetic fibers such as polyester

• in all washing, dyeing and finishing processes
  

The WWF assumes that the textile industry consumes 13.6 liters of water for every euro of turnover. 43% of this is accounted for by wet processes such as washing, dyeing and finishing of textiles.

The World Resources Institute highlights the global risk of water scarcity. In the Water Risk Atlas, the extent of this threat becomes clear. The red areas in the chart show where there is a high to very high risk of water scarcity. What can be seen here is the baseline view which represents the current situation. It depicts water trends that are expected based on historical data.

More views and scenarios of the Water Risk Atlas can be found here.

Water management in the supply chain is a top priority for VAUDE in the upcoming years. In 2022, with the assistance of scientific experts, we initiated an analysis of our supply chain using the WWF Water Management Guide to determine our current water consumption status. 

The central question here was to find out where in our supply chain the most water is consumed – and, conversely, where the greatest potential for savings lies. The analysis showed that the highest water consumption takes place at our suppliers in the second upstream value chain stage, i.e. during material production, or more precisely in the dyeing processes. Most of these suppliers are located in Taiwan. If you want to know more, check out this link.

In 2023, we participated in the "Industrial Water Efficiency Improvement Project" organized by the Taiwanese government with selected suppliers. This project, funded by the Taiwanese government and implemented by the Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) and the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), aims to enhance water efficiency and reduce water consumption in Taiwanese production facilities. We selected three of our largest material suppliers in Taiwan to participate in the project, and their participation is free of charge.

The analysis once again highlighted the significant water consumption in our supply chain. The suppliers collectively consume approximately 2 million liters of water per day, with VAUDE accounting for approximately 1-2% of these consumption levels.

Although VAUDE's share of the total water consumption is small, we have successfully persuaded and encouraged our suppliers to participate in the project. The significant impact of more efficient dyeing machines or wastewater recycling systems is well recognized throughout our supply chain. However, implementing these measures entails substantial investments for our suppliers and can only be implemented gradually and over the long term. The focus of this project was on process optimization to reuse or save water, identifying areas in production where water consumption could be immediately reduced.

The project is divided into 4 phases:

The outcome of the project resulted in action plans for each supplier, outlining specific measures for water conservation. Some of these measures include:

• more efficient use of rainwater
• adjusting water pressure in sanitary facilities
• reusing water for filtration processes and machine cleaning

During the inspection by the ITRI team, it was discovered that one supplier's cooling water tower had a leak, resulting in double the necessary water consumption. With this finding, the supplier can reduce almost half of its daily water consumption!

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