The Good Fashion Fund, an initiative of the Fashion for Good and Laudes Foundation to drive sustainable apparel manufacturing practices, has recently demonstrated the impact of its first investment.
The Netherlands-based company visited the manufacturing facilities of the leading Indian manufacturer Pratibha Syntex Limited last week in Indore to show fruitful results and positive financial, environmental and social impact on Pratibha’s spinning, processing and garmenting divisions.
It’s worth noting here that the Good Fashion Fund granted US $ 4.50 million long-term loan to Pratibha Syntex in 2020 and the final disbursement of the loan was made in June of this year.
“With the capital provided by the Good Fashion Fund, Pratibha Syntex can invest in securing a sustainable future for our processes which will have positive, compounded effects along the value chain. We’re extremely pleased with the partnership and are excited to continue on our journey for positive impact,” mentioned Shreyaskar Chaudhary, Managing Director, Pratibha Syntex Limited.
The first on-site monitoring visit of the Good Fashion Fund was supported by its advisors Sphera, Fairwear Foundation, Global CAD and Adelphi to be able to establish progress made since the investment.
The impact results of the equipment comfortably surpassed, as claimed by the company, the threshold of 50 per cent savings in all key areas, particularly the three goods: Energy, Water and Materials.
All stakeholders who visited the facilities of Pratibha Syntex Limited were impressed with the progress made on the environmental and social action items and particularly with the roadmap developed by the company for further improvements as part of their vision for 2025 and beyond.
“We are very pleased with the partnership with Pratibha Syntex Limited, a frontrunner in terms of sustainability. The first environmental, social and financial impact resulting from our investment is above expectations and in line with our mission to connect impact technologies to the industry to collaboratively tackle its challenges. It is clear from the results of the monitoring visit that sustainability is ingrained in their DNA and thus fully aligned with the objectives of the Good Fashion Fund. We will continue to invest in apparel manufacturers in India and Bangladesh to deliver good fashion practice, economic growth and fair jobs – demonstrating how to invest beyond sustainability and towards a restorative and regenerative apparel supply chain,” commented Bernadette Blom, Director of the Good Fashion Fund.
Since the investment has been made, Pratibha Syntex has installed new spinning equipment, solar panels, a continuous tumble dryer and made enhancements to effluent treatment.
The result showed that the new spinning equipment (card chute, comber, ringrame, autoconer) operates significantly in a more efficient way than the legacy machinery, both in terms of energy usage and waste generated.
Investment in solar panels is ongoing but already more than 30 per cent of usage is met by renewable energy and additional installations are planned aimed at increasing that share to 50 per cent.
The continuous tumble dryer has replaced several pieces of equipment used for treating fabrics and has fully eliminated the need for water and has significantly reduced power usage in this process.
The Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) has been enhanced with new filters allowing for additional recycling of water, reclaiming most of the water used (some water is lost to evaporation), eliminating chemical sludge generated (reducing landfill waste) and reducing energy consumption.
In order to achieve complete circularity and reduce the need for freshwater, Pratibha is setting up a process whereby neighbouring wastewater is treated in addition to their own, using the resulting clean water in their process. The impact of the investment thus touches upon freshwater use, waste (water) discharged and chemical usage.
“Laudes Foundation supports brave action to inspire and challenge industry to harness its power for good through initiatives like the Good Fashion Fund. The environment and social impact that Pratibha Syntex has been able to make with this investment is a great example of how finance can rapidly accelerate apparel manufacturing decarbonisation and help provide safe and dignified jobs for all apparel workers,” said Kelly Clark, Director Finance and Capital Market Transformation at Laudes Foundation.
Apparel Resources was also invited by the Good Fashion Fund to visit the units of Pratibha Syntex Limited and to observe the changes in its processes as a result of the investment. Stay connected to read an exclusive story on this interesting visit.
