'Wastewater Toolbox' Helps Manufacturers With Sustainability

A new digital tool is helping the global textile industry improve its wastewater footprint, and North Carolina played an important role in its creation.

It's called the Wastewater 101 Toolbox, and it was created by The Sustainability Consortium along with partners at Hanes Brands, Cotton Inc., and NC State University.

The online resource was made to help educate those in the textile industry about using less water and treating wastewater that may include harmful chemicals produced from the manufacturing process.

Karen Leonas with NC State says many products today are created outside of the U.S. and therefore aren't regulated by an organization such as the Environmental Protection Agency.

“The way the toolkit is designed is that even if you're not a wastewater treatment operator or in a plant, you can actually go in as a designer or somebody sourcing and put in information to learn about the decision you're making down the road,” she says.

Leonas adds that one of the most important times to address sustainability is during the design phase when about 80 percent of decisions are made.