Enabling Water Footprint Assessment in Apparel Manufacturing Facilities: A Case of Sri Lanka

Abstract

Achieving sustainability in the industrial sector is now a global concern. In sustainable development, water sustainability is considered as a high priority area in the face of threats posed to freshwater resources. Water footprint of an industry is a measurement of the total amount of water consumed by it throughout its supply chain and/or the amount of water polluted by its effluents. However, the concept of water footprint is still new and most of the industries do not have a streamlined procedure in place to follow when carrying out water footprint assessments. The current practices related to water footprint assessments were therefore evaluated with special emphasis on the apparel manufacturing industry, with a view to identifying the key enablers of and barriers to water footprint assessment and the approaches suitable to overcome the barriers so identified. Case study approach was used in this research because of the requirement for an in-depth investigation. Three apparel manufacturing facilities in Sri Lanka were studied by conducting semi-structured interviews with industry practitioners who had been involved in water footprint assessment procedure in each institution. Qualitative data that were gathered were evaluated using cross case analysis to identify the key enablers of and barriers to the existing water footprint assessment practices under five key headings, namely general awareness; setting goals and scope; water footprint accounting; water footprint sustainability assessment; and water footprint response formulation. A framework giving solutions is proposed finally to assist the proper implementation of water footprint assessment in the apparel manufacturing industry in Sri Lanka.