Water Strategy
Water is predominantly used in our dyeing processes. Here it acts as the medium for applying dyes
to our yarns or is used for rinsing and washing yarns before and after dyeing. In the form of steam
it is also the medium used for heating water used in processing or for applying curing heat in some
coating processes.
Our long-term vision is of processes that are waterless, and our investment in 2018 in Twine, a
start-up company developing yarn digital dyeing processes that use no water, was partly aimed at
helping to deliver that long-term goal. Twine launched their first generation of sampling machines
in June 2019, to much industry interest, and we look forward to working with them on the
development and implementation of their technology in the coming years.
In the meantime, our goal is to continue to reduce our use of water and hence to help safeguard
this natural but limited resource. Our goal is to reduce our water usage intensity by 40% by 2022
against our 2018 baseline. This requires a further acceleration in water saving initiatives compared
to the 28% saving that we achieved in the six years up to 2018. Up to the end of 2019 we have undertaken detailed water balance studies in 31 of our major plants, accounting for 62% of our total water usage. These studies enable us to map the water into each process in the plant and
then determine the opportunities for reducing water usage through process changes.
A number of global and site level projects have been initiated during 2019 as a result of these
studies which will impact on water usage in 2020 and beyond. During 2019 our water usage
dropped by 2% against 2018, and we are confident that we will see this accelerate in 2020.
40% Reduction in water
intensity (litres/kilo)
by 2022
Reducing water use requires
detailed monitoring of actual
consumption at all stages of
our operations. The bulk of
water use is in our dyeing
operations, where it is used
as the medium for applying
dyes to fibres and for pre- and
post-dyeing washing stages,
where necessary.
We also use
water as the principal source of
heating (in the form of steam)
in processes that require heat.
This includes autoclaving yarn
to stabilise it, for dyeing and
washing, and for the curing of
thread coatings. Water is also
used for humidification purposes
in spinning and twisting
operations (in order to improve
the behaviour of the fibres
during processing).
Finally, water
on our sites is also used for
domestic purposes. Identifying
opportunities for reducing
water consumption starts with
a water balance that allows
us to track the use of water
through all the processes on
site. This detailed analysis is best
done with multiple metering
points in order to get exact
volumes at all the key stages.
Once we have a detailed water
balance then we can see where
there is excess consumption
and which processes are open
to modification in order to
reduce water use.
Most chosen
solutions can be applied
across all of our units that
have the same processes, but
we also look out for unique
opportunities on a site. At the
same time as we are looking for
ways to reduce the water in use,
we are also looking for ways to
recycle more water so that we
can use it multiple times in our
processes and hence reduce
even further our need to use
fresh water.
A vital resource
Without water we cannot, today, make
thread. Water is predominantly used in
our dyeing processes. It either acts as the
medium for applying the dyes to our yarns
or is used for rinsing and washing yarns
before and after dyeing. In addition to
water use in our dyeing process, we use
steam in processing or for applying curing
heat in some coating processes.
We recognise the importance of water for
our business but also the value of water
for the communities in which we operate.
In some locations where we operate, water
is scarce, and so we have a responsibility to
reduce our own consumption and return
what we do not need to the environment
after suitable treatment. In some cases, this
includes recycling the water we extract and
reusing it in our manufacturing processes.
Taking a risk-based approach
To identify those water stressed locations,
in 2019 we have undertaken an updated
water stress analysis using the Aqueduct
methodology. Overall, our review indicates
that 30% of our water demand is in
high or extremely high water stress areas
(water stress measures the demand versus
the availability in an area). This analysis
reinforces the need to ensure that we
continue our current strategy of reducing
the water we use, recycling as much as we
can and returning it to the environment
in a state where it can be used by others.
With this approach we can help to destress
water in these locations. At the
moment 70% of our water recycling is
in locations with a medium to extremely
high water stress, and decisions on future
recycling projects will be informed by stress
levels.
The Aqueduct methodology also assesses
water depletion which can become an
issue as that will reduce availability (and
hence increase the stress). The analysis
indicates that only 2% of our demand is in
areas of high depletion.
A small number of our units rely on
ground water supply, and we have also
assessed the risk of water table decline for
these units. One unit, Faridabad in North
India, is in an area of high water table
decline but this is a unit where we have
long been aware of water supply issues
and we are already recycling up to 90%
of our water in order to minimise our need
for fresh water.
We will continue to update our water
stress review on a regular basis and reassess
the risks if need be.
Reducing our consumption
Our global goal is to reduce our water
used per kilogram of thread produced by
40% by 2022 against our 2018 baseline.
In 2019, we consumed 7.4 million cubic
metres of water, which equates to 90
litres per kilogram of product. This is a 2% reduction compared to 2018 and
highlights the ambitious nature of our
target. Because of changes in scope in our
business (the sale of our North American
Crafts business and the incorporation of
Gotex and Patrick Yarn Mills), we have
restated our 2018 baseline to exclude
the former and include the latter, and
changed the production basis to finished
product to reflect that we have more
proportionately more product that is not
dyed. Full historical
data is shown in the data table at the back
of the report.
In 2019, we have undertaken detailed
water balance studies at 31 of our major
plants, accounting for 62% of our total
water usage. This includes detailed
assessments at Sevier, Horana, Ambas
and Odorhei. We have also delivered
five training sessions with colleagues
on how to undertake a water balance
analysis. These studies are now delivering
projects with savings opportunities. To
help us accelerate our process we intend
to conduct water balance assessments
in the rest our sites by the end of 2020.
This will enable us to identify areas of
improvement and target our resources
into those projects that enable the most
significant water saving projects.
Of the water we used, over 24% was
recycled and reused (up from 20%
in 2018). Of the remaining amount
required 52% was sourced from the local
environment and 48% was supplied from
municipal sources.
Utilising new technology
We continually seek to improve the
efficiency and competitiveness of our
manufacturing sites, especially around
our dyeing processes. Technologies such
as reverse osmosis improve the quality of
water we use, giving us alternatives to
using water from municipal supply and/
or helping us achieve a high level of water
recovery from process effluent. In addition,
some of our sites have implemented Zero
Liquid Discharge (ZLD) systems, whereby
the remaining effluent is dried to make for
easier disposal of the residue.
Our sites at Ambas and Faridabad, in
India, have ZLD systems, which has
considerably reduced the water sourced
externally as 77% and 74% respectively
of the water used has been recycled.
Similarly, in Sri Lanka, at our Horana site,
69% of water was recycled in 2019 with
only 31% going to effluent.
At Coats Vietnam, we have successfully
reduced our water consumption by 42%
in the last five years, which is equivalent
to 310 million litres saved. This was
achieved by using a combination of
approaches; including a move away from
underground or hidden pipes susceptible
to undetected leaks; an investment on
modern dye machines which utilise lower
liquor volume (around 44% reduction
compared to a conventional dye machine);
the implementation of a dyehouse cooling
water recovery process and through the
harvesting and recycling of rainwater.
Eliminating the need for water
altogether
Our long-term vision is of dyeing processes
that are waterless. To help promote the
development of such processes, in 2018,
we invested $5 million in Twine, a start-up
company developing digital yarn dyeing
that uses no water. Twine launched their
first generation of sampling machines in
June 2019, and have supplied their first
operational units to pilot customers.
Digital fabric dyeing has been around for
some years and is beginning to supply
substantial volumes across the textile
supply chain. However the challenges of
yarn dyeing are much greater for several
reasons. Firstly, the three dimensional
nature of yarn (which needs to be dyed on
all surfaces), is very different to the large
flat surfaces that are the substrate for
fabric dyeing. Secondly, the physical scale
of a yarn (which typically has a diameter
that is well below a millimetre), requires
very precise control of the flow of dyes
and very accurate application systems.
Finally, getting acceptable productivity,
and hence low processing costs, when
dyeing single yarns (where it might be
necessary to dye 10 or more kilometres
of yarn to produce a single kilogramme
of yarn requires high running speeds and
reliable and automated processes.
Twine have focussed on addressing all
these issues, and have made substantial
progress. We are planning to undertake
running trials with their technology during
2020 so that we can start to plan the
implementation across our operations. We
expect that as the technology matures it
will not only benefit our processing, but
will have a significant impact across many
other parts of the textile industry. It is also
worth noting that, while we are focussed
on the water benefits here, digital dyeing
will also reduce process energy use
significantly and will eliminate the need
for many chemicals in the dyeing process.
