LEARN
Understanding the problem is the first step towards a solution! Keep scrolling to educate yourself about the wastewater produced by the consumer goods industry and how it affects us all.
The database below will show you options for how to take action on wastewater treatment.
CLICK HERE to learn how to use the toolbox
IPE Enterprise Map
This is an interactive, live feed map of air and water pollution from Chinese manufacturing enterprises. SOURCE: Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE)
Website
International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
This is a website for ISO, an independent, non-governmental international organization with a membership of 165 national standards bodies. It develops and publishes International Standards.
Integrity and Standards
This is a repository of standards ensuring that the work done towards sustainability in the textile industry is genuine and leads to real and meaningful change. SOURCE: Textile Exchange
Website
Insights from China’s Textiles Manufacturers
This is a report from 2017 on insights from China’s textile manufacturers to understand the challenges to becoming clean and circular. SOURCE: China Water Risk
Industrial Wastewater Management
This is an academic journal article written in 2012. It characterizes spatial and temporal changes in water quality (specifically physico-chemical variables plus priority and non-priority pollutants) of discharges from industrial complexes on a national scale in North Korea. The data were provided by the Water Quality Monitoring Program operated by the Ministry of Environment, Korea […]
Website
Green Supply Chain Map
This is an interactive, live feed map of Chinese manufacturing enterprises and their emissions. SOURCE: Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE)
Website
GRAMS/AI Spectroscopy Software
This is a software suite that provides a set of complementary, fully integrated applications that increase productivity across all areas of spectroscopic analysis. The suite’s core application eliminates the need for multiple instrument software packages by providing a single, integrated environment for data management and analysis. It streamlines data access and facilitates scientific collaboration, as […]
Website
Global Recycled Standard
This is an international, voluntary, full product standard that sets requirements for third-party certification of Recycled Content, chain of custody, social and environmental practices, and chemical restrictions. SOURCE: Textile Exchange
Global Pollution Map
This is a site for policymakers and the public alike to find, understand, and interpret data about the pollution crisis affecting us all. SOURCE: Global Alliance on Health and Pollution
Website
Global Groundwater Information System
This is an interactive, web-based portal to groundwater-related information and knowledge. SOURCE: International Groundwater Resources Assessment Centre
Website
GEMStat
This is a repository of water quality data of ground and surface waters. SOURCE: UN Environment.
Website
GEMI Solutions
This is a repository of solutions-based tools provided by GEMI, an organization of leading companies dedicated to fostering global environmental, health and safety (EHS) and sustainability excellence through the sharing of tools and information to help businesses achieve environmental sustainability excellence. SOURCE: Global Environmental Management Initiative
Website
What is wastewater?
Wastewater is any water that has been used by humans. In the consumer goods industry, it is the water used to produce products and often contains chemicals and dyes. This water should be treated before it returns to the watershed, but that is frequently not the case.
What is the Wastewater 101 Toolbox?
The Wastewater 101 Toolbox is where brands, retailers, manufacturers, designers, and even the public-at-large can access education, training, and resources related to facilitating and incentivizing the proper treatment of wastewater in the consumer goods industry.
Why isn’t wastewater treated?
There are many reasons wastewater may not be treated. One is that people simply don’t understand the problem. Another is that once they do understand, they do not have the knowledge and tools to address the problem. One big reason wastewater goes untreated is that manufacturers lack the support needed to do so. Treating wastewater is expensive, and with increasing pressure to lower costs, manufacturers must make tough decisions.
Who is The Sustainability Consortium?
The Sustainability Consortium (TSC) is a global non-profit organization working to transform the consumer goods industry by partnering with leading companies to define, develop, and deliver more sustainable products.
The Sustainability Consortium (TSC) is a
global organization leading the transformation
of the consumer goods industry to deliver more
sustainable consumer products. TSC convenes
diverse stakeholders and members to build
science-based decision tools and solutions that
address sustainability issues.