Since its establishment in 2008, the Birla Century plant at Jhagadia in Gujarat has consistently been a trend-setter for other textile plants. It is the first manufacturing project in India to achieve LEED v4 certification (Gold) as well as the second manufacturing project to achieve LEED EBOM certification worldwide from the United States Green Building Council (USGBC).
LEED v4 is the most rigorous global sustainability certification and is significantly harder than the previous ones LEED v3. To meet the challenges ahead of the textile industry like pollution, social responsibility, safe workplace, transparency in supply chain, avoiding use of toxic and hazardous chemicals and, above all, getting responsible sourcing to save our planet, there is need to align with vision and mission of the Government.
Keeping clean manufacturing & sustainable drive among world leaders and pioneers of the textile industry in view, Birla Century, a division of Century Textiles & Industries Ltd., remains committed towards safe & sustainable manufacturing. The benefits of this will be environment protection for environment, socially responsible and safe workplace, efficient & prosperous textile value chain, total transparency, benchmarking of products, and sustainable use of materials and resources.
Sustainable Textile Production (STeP)
STeP is an independent certification system from HOHENSTEIN of Germany for brands, retail companies and manufacturers within the textile chain. It is awarded by the OEKO-TEX Association, a union of 18 independent textile research and test institutes in Europe and Japan. It enables textile businesses to communicate their sustainable manufacturing practices in a transparent and credible manner.
STeP analyses and evaluates production facilities on parameters such as environmentally friendly technologies and products, efficient use of resources as well as compliance with the social working conditions. It also helps textile businesses to increase their efficiencies.
Made in Green (MIG)
The Made in Green (MIG) tag – a web-based QR code system – by HOHENSTEIN indicates that labelled textiles are not only tested for harmful substances but also manufactured in environmentally friendly, safe and socially responsible workplaces. The tag offers visibility to every component of the production system and can be seen by brands / retailers / customers across the globe. Labelled products can be easily traced and tracked and reliable information provided to consumers who want to make more sustainable personal purchase decisions.
Commenting on the certifications, the President Mr. R.K. Dalmia, said: “The OEKO-TEX endorsement is a testament to our commitment to sustainable production practices. It allows us to highlight our sustainability credentials to our customers, suppliers and other stakeholders in a credible manner. For our customers in particular, this establishes a firm basis for placing more trust in us as a responsible textile producer.”
He added: “Birla Century is committed to develop innovative products and processes that are safe for the consumer as well as the environment through product benchmarking, sustainable use of materials and resources, and eco-friendly manufacturing practices. We have also decided to identify parts of our products with the MIG tag. The STeP certification will establish a firm basis for placing more trust in the company as a responsible textile producer. The green certifications will provide further impetus to the company’s sustainable journey and help it stand out from the competition”.