Swedish brands like KappAhl, Indiska and Lindex, are working towards reducing environmental impact and improving capacity through training on resource efficiency with the help of The Sustainable Water Resources (SWAR) project. The SWAR Project is a cooperation between Swedish brands and their Indian suppliers, the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), SIDA and an Indian consultancy, cKinetics. For Radnik Exports, a well known apparel manufacturing unit in Noida, the idea of coupling sustainable practices with significant financial savings was initially far-fetched. However, through SWAR they have succeeded. Now, Radnik has reinvested these savings in new technology which ensures efficient use of natural resources. Ravinder Hand of Radnik said “We are now all aware of how important it is to save water, energy and chemicals, which is helpful in cutting factory costs. Building capacity and educating at every level in the garment industry needs to be an ongoing process.” More than 40 factories participated in the project and the project has contributed to saving 284 million litres of water and 402 tons of chemicals annually.
