Case StudyAugust 20, 2020
Clean by Design (CbD), a program created by NRDC, is leveraged by Aii as a benchmark to identify, fund, scale and measure stepwise solutions for reducing the environmental impacts of textile manufacturing. Aii convenes the Mill Improvement Alliance of supply chain program implementers in order to standardize and align tools and criteria for impact projects. By providing a collaborative, continuous improvement framework that builds upon CbD’s “Best Practice” methodology, Aii can support mills of any size, type or location to reduce their environmental footprint. We focus on scaling improvements across key areas of known impact in textile production: Energy, Water, Chemistry & Wastewater and Materials. The following case study is an example of how one facility has maximized the value of Clean by Design on their production floor.
The idea that saving water and energy will lead to a healthier planet is a no-brainer. But many people don’t understand the financial benefits that come with taking these steps toward a more sustainable factory.
Suzhou Nanhua Textile Finishing Technology Co., Ltd., or “Nanhua” for short, is a factory in the Wujiang District of Suzhou City in Jiangsu, China. We had the pleasure of connecting directly with Zeng Xuefeng, Quality Manager and Clean by Design leader in Nanhua, for a conversation about the implementation of more sustainable practices, and how it led to achieving positive outcomes beyond positive impacts on the environment. Here’s what we learned.
Motivation
The main motivation for joining the Clean by Design (CbD) program was personal to the factory leadership team. Zeng said, “The chairman personally values this work. As both a private entrepreneur and a representative of the local people’s congress, he wants to do what’s right for the enterprise and serve as a model for his peers.”
The decision to invest in this work goes beyond show. Each day, factory leadership checks the factory’s energy use, sewage discharge, product output, and other sustainability factors, and actively works towards finding solutions for any issues discovered. It’s said that swift and public action is taken to address any improvements that need to be made for the sake of environmental protection.
A secondary motivator is government requirements. As the government continues to step in on issues like sewage discharge and mandate inspections with strict requirements, factories are forced to take accountability for things like waste and chemical usage.
Finally, market pressure is another factor in why factories like Nanhua are stepping up their sustainability efforts. There’s a clear correlation between the desire for consumers to invest in products that are made sustainability and brands that are demanding that actions be taken at the factory level to decrease their own carbon footprint. In order for factories to meet that market demand, investments must be made.
Projects
Through the CbD program, Nanhua has invested resources in the following projects toward a more sustainable factory:
Benefits
“The CbD concept is very consistent with our factory,” said Zeng. “In the process of participating in the project, some knowledge and cases gave us great inspiration, such as letting us rethink the issue of heat preservation, traps, and process water use.”
Onsite inspections also proved useful in inspiring confidence in the CbD local experts who worked closely with the factory to identify and resolve problems. The solutions-driven approach to the program, and the practical nature of the suggestions, greatly benefited the factory in making the changes needed to improve sustainability efforts and reduce costs. Below is a breakdown of the initial investment cost, annual savings, and investment payback period.
Challenges
Participating in the CbD program did not come without challenges. Technical implementation was cited as one of the main barriers that Nanhua needed to overcome. Through continuous experimentation, improvements, and a spirit of perseverance, the factory was able to move from theoretical to practical changes. Other challenges came in the forms of addressing process capacity, temperature control issues, and equipment barriers, but with the support of the CbD team, each was resolved.
The issue that required a greatest investment of time was related to management. After implementing some energy-saving technologies, the original process needed to be changed, which led to several departments and specific personnel needing to be retrained. As you can imagine, this created some difficulties internally, but the solution was quickly discovered when workers were shown the immense benefits of reused water. Mid-level managers strengthened their supervision of the implementation changes and worked closely with the team to make the adjustments needed to be successful.
Opportunities
While Nanhua has experienced great success through the CbD project, they believe even more potential is possible through the offering of more technical instruction and support.
Achievements
To date, Nanhua has achieved the following through CbD:
● Water savings of 70%: In 2019 alone, Nanhua saved about 1.2 million cubic meters of water and 2,300 tons of carbon dioxide from greenhouse gas emissions.
● Energy savings of 30%
● Greenhouse gas savings of about 30%, which has significantly reduced production costs and improved the market competitiveness of the plant.
Final thoughts
Zeng shared, “Now that environmental protection policies are becoming more and more stringent, and international brand markets have higher environmental protection requirements, it will be very difficult for companies that ignore environmental impacts to survive. Therefore, we must raise our awareness of energy saving, water saving, and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and actively seek opportunities to implement energy saving and emission reduction projects. This will ultimately reflect production costs and market orders, and help enterprises obtain greater profits.”
苏州南华纺织整理科技有限公司在CbD项目中节水、节能经验访谈录
1、公司名称：苏州南华纺织整理科技有限公司
2、地址： 中国江苏苏州市吴江区，主要经营染整加工布等化纤类产品。
法人代表： 鲍惠荣（吴江区涂层商会会长）
3、讲述人：曾雪峰（职位：品质经理）（TBC, 及照片）
4、时间：2020年3月17日
5、公司概况：
年产量1.5亿米（化纤布匹），2019年使用约75万吨水，耗能待确认。
（1）能耗占总成本的比例为30%至40%。主要能耗蒸汽、水。
（2）消耗费用：
主要是蒸汽费用和染料费用。生产使用外购低压蒸气染色和中压蒸气定型，蒸气价格约200多元/吨。公司新水使用河水，仅0.18元/吨，不做软化，简单处理后使用，处理成本仅几分钱、较为便宜。
6主要采访的问题和回答：
6.1 2018-2019年，贵厂在CbD项目中取得了什么成绩？
答：
我们实现了节水70%，节能30%，节约温室气体30%左右，大幅降低了生产成本，提高了我厂的市场竞争力。在今年新冠病毒影响的情况下，其他企业开工不足，无订单，但本公司生产订单不断，且为多个大牌国际订单，企业持续向好态势不变。
在2019年实现了节水120万立方米左右，节约温室气体排放2300吨二氧化碳。
6.2 主要做了哪些节能减排的项目？
（1）大力推行染色工艺用水管理：采用了分类收集、分质回用的原则。分别实施了冷凝水回用、冷却水回用，水洗污水清污水单独回收膜处理后回用等措施。
(2) 推动化学品回用。前处理的碱水，单独采用碱处理系统后再用，既节省污水膜处理、回用中水，碱处理系统的水回用车间，还节约了化学品用量和费用。
（3）设备升级
原染缸浴比未1：17.5，采用溢流水洗，原来染后固色2至3次水洗，特殊要求的水洗次数还要更多，这个过程中蒸汽和水浪费比较严重。
现新引进32台低浴比染色机，气流浴缸浴比低1：7，在这个环节中减少了60%的用水需求。
（4）改善工艺流程
对现有的产品工艺重新分析，对不同的产品设置了不同的工艺，改变了原来统一工艺流程的方式。例如，在染深色或黑色的产品时候，染色后的固色水洗改用连续长车做水洗，即缸外水洗，不再是以前的缸内水洗的方式，仅此一项改善，每缸布的水洗环节的节水量就达到了85%左右，蒸汽节约量超过了50%。
6．3 为什么贵厂愿意在节能减排方面实施这么多项目？
答：
（1）董事长亲自重视这项工作。因为他不仅是民营企业家也是地方人大代表，他希望做企业做一些正确的事情，给同行参考起到模范带头做账用。因此，只要有利于生产和节能、环保，董事长非常愿意投入人力和物力、财力。老板每天都会检查全厂的能源使用、污水排放、产品产量等情况，发现异常就组织开会讨论，解决问题。定期，老板会组织中层以上干部讨论技术改进的各项方案。
（2）政府的要求。当地政府规定了各印染企业的污水排放限额，并且定期巡查，要求非常严格。企业现在使用2017的排污水许可证，规定排污水量不超过2000立方米/天，但实际生产规模扩大，如果不做任何改变，需要排放污水6000立方米/天。
（3）市场压力。当地染厂众多，一方面竞争激烈，价格压力非常大，另一方面，品牌商和贸易中间商对产品质量和环境要求高。双重压力下在只能自身挖潜，节能降耗、包括控制化学品用量以降低成本。
6.4 在项目过程中，遇到了哪些问题、挑战以及如何解决这些问题的？
答：
一方面是技术实施上的问题。在节能项目设计好了之后，理论与实践的差别，导致一些技术实施后对产品质量、生产进度产生了影响。但是我们都通过不断的实验，改进，多方尝试，最终解决了问题。 例如
（1）碱水回用系统处理能力有限，含有很多杂质，曾经给产品质量造成了影响。
解决办法：通过多次尝试，最终增加过滤，并且设定一定的回用次数限制，保障产品质量。
（2）水分类、分质回收回用后，曾经有回水质量和温度不符合要求
例如冷凝水收集回收后冬天效果良好，但在夏天回用水温度过高，会给一些不耐高温染色的产品如尼龙等造成质量影响。
解决办法：
经过仔细研究和设计，在夏季增设降温塔或混用低温清水，降低中水的温度，保证产品质量和水回用顺利进行。
另一方面是管理问题。一些节能技术实施后，需要改变原来的工艺，需要其他部门和现场人员配合，这过程中遇到一些困难。
例如，虽然工厂建立了回用水系统，但是车间操作工人却更愿意使用清水，不愿意使用回用水，对回用水有一定的抵触情绪、甚至私自将回用水改用清水。
解决办法：
中层管理者加强监督，亲自实验用水情况，给工人展示回用水的好处。 另外制定了详细的KPI，规定每天必须用完多少回用水，并督促检查完成情况。还有就是固定几台缸，规定某类产品在这些缸内染色，且只能使用回用水等措施。
6.5 参加CbD项目对贵厂的主要帮助是什么？
答
1）CbD项目的节能知识、理念和我们工厂非常契合。在参与项目过程中，一些知识和案例，给我们很大启发，比如让我们重新思考了保温问题，疏水阀问题，工艺水使用问题等。
2）CbD专家的现场检查，也帮我们发现了很多问题，给了很多建议和可行性方案，对节省成本有很大帮助比如疏水阀的安装、阀门焊接和使用等。
6.6、您对其他企业印染实施节能减排有什么好的建议：
答：
现在环保政策越来越严格，国际品牌市场对环保要求也越来越高，忽视环境影响的企业生存下去将十分困难。因此，一定要提高对节能、节水、减少温室气体排放的认识，主动寻找机会实施节能减排项目，这最终会反应到生产成本和市场订单上面，帮助企业获得更多的利润。
6.7 您对CbD项目本身改进，有没有一些建议
答：
我们在CbD项目中取得了很大的成功，但是还有很多潜力可以进一步挖掘，希望CbD项目能提供更多的技术介绍和帮助。
