32. Development of Green Manufacturing System in Indian Apparel Industry

Green manufacturing defines the reduction of hazardous substances in the design, manufacture and application of products or processes that can affect the environment and causes the concern towards global warming. It refers to a wide area including but not limited to, air, water and land pollution, energy usage and efficiency, waste generation and recycling. It is known that carbon footprint, which is a measure of production of greenhouse gases (CO₂, CH₄ and N₂O), prominently affect the global warming. Hence, it is important to reduce the carbon footprint of an industry to preserve the environment. Being a significant contributor in Indian industrial production and export, textile and apparel industry is an important engine for the nation. Due to the alarming situation of global warming, in recent years, both researchers and practitioners have devoted attention towards the impact of garment and textile industry on environment. Despite the significant relevance of the subject, a structured analysis of the problem is missing even though there is significant research work going on for reducing carbon footprint in different manufacturing industries, but not much work has been reported for garment and apparel industry. India is a significant and large emitter of greenhouse gases and most of it because of the industrial production; hence, there is a certain need to reduce these emissions, Therefore, present research work is focused to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases in garment and apparel industry. Through this research, the researcher is investigating the level of awareness towards green manufacturing particularly of carbon footprint in garment manufacturers/decision-makers. A detailed system/instrument which will calculate CFP per garment and covers all possible aspects and concept of green manufacturing has been developed and used to attain this objective.