By 2022, we will reduce the amount of water used per kilogram of thread produced by 40% against our 2018 baseline

Our approach to water management is multi-dimensional. We recognize the value of water for our business and for the communities in which we operate. It is a shared resource and so we must ensure that we use water conservatively and as efficiently as possible.

We are always looking for alternatives to using water to limit the impact on neighboring communities, while working to reduce our own consumption and return what we do need to the natural environment after suitable treatment. In some cases, this includes recycling the water we extract so that it is reused in our manufacturing processes.

Understanding water risk

We have undertaken a high-level risk review of our operations to determine whether our businesses are in areas of high-water scarcity. The risk factors include the physical risk, regulatory risk, baseline water stress, flood occurrence and access to water. Fortunately, this review did not raise any significant concerns for our business, however, we appreciate that this may change in future years as the consequences of climate change manifest themselves.

Reducing water consumption

In 2018, we consumed 7.9 million cubic meters of water, which equates to 109 liters per kilogram of product manufactured. This is a 3% reduction compared to 2017 and continues the trend of previous years.

Of the water we used, over 20% was recycled and reused, of the remaining amount required 43% was sourced from the local environment and 37% was supplied from municipal sources.

Investment in better technology

We continually seek to improve the efficiency and competitiveness of our manufacturing operations. Through investment in new machinery, equipment and processes we look to do things better, making more thread using less.

Improvements in our dyeing processes, described previously, have led to significant water savings as have investments in technology, such as reverse osmosis that enables us to achieve a high level of water recovery from process effluent. Some of our plants, in India and Sri Lanka for example, now recycle up to 95% of all the water they use.

More efficient operations

At a number of our manufacturing sites we have conducted detailed ‘water balance’ assessments that help us to understand and manage water and effluent efficiently; identify areas with greatest water and cost saving potential; as well as detect inefficient use and leaks quickly.

One of these sites is in Vietnam. In 2014, it was using 115 liters of water per kilo of thread produced (l/kg) but through careful monitoring and smart investment, this has reduced to 65 l/kg by the end of 2018. This is more than a 40% overall reduction in water consumption at this site. We are now focusing on further reductions and have invested in extensive water metering to understand precisely where water is used, and where inefficient use or wastage might be occurring.

At other sites, we are looking for innovative ways to reuse water required for non-essential manufacturing processes. For example, at our manufacturing unit in Sevier, US, we have started to recycle water discharged from the water-cooled air conditioning system saving 10% of the site’s total water use equivalent to water savings of 68 million liters a year.

Using less water for a brighter future

Coats prides itself on the ability to provide high quality threads that meet the specific needs of customers. This includes the color. As anyone working in the textile industry knows, color plays a crucial role in a product’s success. From designer clothing to home furnishings to automotive, the latest trends can be defined as much by color as by brand or product material. In 2018, we dyed over 174,000 different colors in nearly four million production batches.

Dyeing is one of the most important parts of the manufacturing process as we transform processed polyester, cotton and other materials from a functional material into one that enhances and completes our customer’s final product. This process alone accounts for around 60% of our total water consumption.

Coats has long been a leader in dyeing technology in the textile industry, constantly driving innovation to improve quality and efficiency, including, recently, through the introduction of low liquor ratio dyeing machines at some sites. Traditionally dyeing uses around 40-80 liters of water per kilo of product, resulting in the use of huge volumes of water. Our new machines have reduced this ratio to around 20-40 liters per kilo – up to a 50% reduction in water usage.

We are seeking to improve this even further, embracing developments in digital technology to enable our processes to be more specific and tailored to our customer’s needs in the future, in a sustainable manner. By using digital printing technology, we aspire to be able to produce exact lengths and colors of thread, whenever or wherever they are needed. The Twine technology, in which we recently invested $5 million, is based on waterless dyeing and will feature inbuilt color software integrated with Coats ColourStitch.

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