Abstract:
The apparel industry contributes to a significant portion of Sri Lanka’s exports while the
sector occupies 15% of the country’s employment. Apparel manufacturing is one of the
most resource-consuming industries that generate vast amounts of waste. Energy and
water consumption in the apparel industry are also significantly high. Therefore, this
study aimed to identify proactive strategies to reduce pollution and generation of waste
at the source by changing both processes and use of materials in an apparel industry in
Sri Lanka. The study employed the cleaner production methodology developed by the
United Nations Industrial Development Organization. In this study, material, energy
and water were identified as the main input variables of the processes. The main
output variables were produced garments, wastewater generation, and solid waste. With
respect to the studied apparel manufacturing facility, the annual production capacity
was 7748940 pieces in 2022. The average daily electricity and water consumption for the
year 2022 were 0.103 kWh per piece and 0.0605 m3 per person, respectively. A volume
of 0.039 m3 of wastewater has been generated per person. The total CO2 emission per
day was 2.4 tCO2e. The highest portion of electricity is consumed by sewing machines
and then by air compressors and air conditioners. Currently, generated solid waste is
subjected to recycling. Water consumption practices determined by behavioral variables
were identified as a major root cause of higher expenses for resource consumption which
can be reduced by around 65% through reusing treated wastewater.
