BASF and U.N. organizations plan to make dye works more eco-efficient

Pilot project aims to improve the textiles industry in Morocco

29-Apr-2002

BASF is conducting a pilot project with two U.N. organizations - UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization) and UNEP (United Nations Environmental Program) - to investigate the eco-efficiency of several textile dye works in Morocco. The results are then to be implemented in the form of improvements to production processes. The study will use the eco-efficiency analysis - a tool developed and used worldwide by BASF. The eco-efficiency analysis aims to achieve a balance between environmental and economic factors: In other words to manufacture cost-effective products with the smallest possible amount of raw materials and energy, and to minimize emissions.

BASF has developed a software package in French that will be provided free of charge to Moroccan companies. The program uses key technical data to calculate how the manufacturing process can be improved. As a result, scarce resources can be conserved and the burden on the environment reduced.

The pilot project is part of BASF's active involvement in the Global Compact initiative under the leadership of United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan. In this initiative, global organizations and companies commit themselves to promote fundamental principles worldwide in the areas of human rights, labor standards and environmental protection. BASF is one of around 50 major companies as well as non-governmental organizations involved in employment, human rights, environment and development that support the Global Compact initiative.

"The aim is to provide companies in Morocco with an effective tool for Sustainable Development. In this way, companies in the textiles industry can set a course toward products and processes that make both business sense and are environmentally friendly," explains Dr. Andreas Kicherer from BASF's Environment, Safety & Energy division. In the course of a visit to Morocco Kicherer visited selected dye works and established in Morocco initial contacts.

The textiles industry with its 200,000 employees plays an important role in Morocco's economy and accounts for 40 percent to exports.

In September 2002, BASF and the United Nations plan to present the results of their project jointly in a case study on the official agenda of UNEP's World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg.

Further information on BASF's eco-efficiency is available on the Internet at www.basf.de/en/umwelt/oekoeffizienz.

https://www.chemeurope.com/en/news/10401/basf-and-u-n-organizations-plan-to-make-dye-works-more-eco-efficient.html