The global apparel industry grapples with a significant waste footprint, bearing far-reaching environmental impacts across the supply chain and product lifecycle. From pre-consumer waste generated at the factory floor, to post-consumer waste and resulting disposal; waste management at every stage of the value chain is critical to sustainable management of environmental impacts. As a responsible apparel manufacturer, we work to minimise our own waste footprint, partner with customers and innovators, and collaborate across the value chain to promote circularity in the apparel industry.

Responding to the Waste Challenge

Pre-consumer waste

Waste created throughout the apparel manufacturing process, before a garment is completed and shipped, is the extent of pre-consumer waste. This includes waste created during yarn and fabric production, offcuts at cutting during the manufacturing process, defective materials, and more. While these waste streams contribute a significant volume of the fashion industry’s footprint, they also present easier-to-address opportunities for waste-reduction, through concerted efforts employed by raw material producers and apparel manufacturers alike.

Post-consumer waste

Post-consumer waste refers to apparels discarded by consumers at end-of-life. The duration a product can be in use, before it is discarded, is significantly influenced raw material composition, product quality and design, and consumer and fashion trends. In addition, consumer awareness and access to alternatives such as repair for wear-and-tear, upcycling, or re-use, can also influence the period before a garment is considered waste. Thereafter, segregation, collection, and recycling options also impact the volume of apparel waste that actually ends up earmarked for disposal. Despite developments in technology and trends, the volume of post-consumer textile waste is staggering, with a significant percentage still being disposed.

Our Waste Footprint

We carry out waste-flow analyses to categorise and analyse waste streams based on their origin (production activity/function in the value chain), composition, and classification. All percentages represented below are approximate values based on the latest figures. They are largely unchanged year-on-year, and representative of waste streams structurally inherent to our operations.

Inspiring Better Waste Management beyond our Walls

Wherever possible, we work with communities to implement or support division-led community-based waste management initiatives that are cleaning up community spaces, public areas, and vital ecosystems. Programmes implemented by the MAS Foundation, in partnership with government and other corporations, are pursuing similar outcomes for better waste management practices in the wider community.

Responsible chemical management and use involves conscious monitoring and stringent compliance not only within our operations, but also from our suppliers. and worker safety. Our begins with the procurement of raw materials, many of which require chemical inputs during production. Additionally, chemical-use is an essential component in the manufacturing processes, from dyeing and finishing to fabric treatment. Therefore, our actions for responsible chemical use safeguard our workers, and the end-consumers of our products. Our due-diligence and supplier compliance processes, coupled with continuing engagement with chemical and raw material suppliers are vital for effective management of any and all chemicals used in the production process.

Risk-Reduction and Chemical Management

Environmental Impacts: The apparel industry utilises a wide range of chemicals throughout its supply chain, from raw material production to the finishing of garments. While these chemicals can enhance product quality, durability, and aesthetics, their use also poses significant risks to the environment. Aside from elimination of harmful chemicals, effluent from industrial processes requires suitable treatment and continuous monitoring to prevent pollution risks to water and soil.

Social Impacts: Stringent health and safety practices can ensure safety of employees involved in the handling, transport, storage, and use of potentially hazardous chemicals. Effective chemical management and wastewater treatment are essential processes that ecosystems and the communities that rely on them. Similarly, standardised testing for finished products assess and mitigate potential consumer safety risks associated with residual chemicals in finished products.

Our Chemical Management Process

Input

We strive not only to comply with current regulations for safe chemical use but also to proactively assess and anticipate upcoming restrictions. This involves ongoing engagement with customers and suppliers, diligent monitoring of the regulatory landscape, benchmarking against international standards, and strict procurement controls.

Identification and elimination of restricted materials is guided by hazard-based assessments and standardised benchmarks, including industry, brand, or product-specific Restricted Substance Lists (RSLs), the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) Manufacturing Restricted Substance List (MRSL), and the Bluesign System Substances List (BSSL).

Sourcing safer alternatives is a continuous process requiring collaboration with customers and chemical suppliers to identify, study, and assign alternatives for Chemicals of Concern that are likely to be replaced. To anticipate future restrictions, We scan international and regional regulations like California Proposition 65and REACH SVHC.

Controls and restrictions at the procurement stage ensure that only Bluesign-approved chemicals are newly introduced for dyeing, and only ZDHC Level 1 or higher chemicals are introduced for printing. Wherever possible, in line with our sustainable product criteria, Bluesign-certified chemicals are encouraged.

Process

We employ a hazard and risk-based approach to managing chemicals across all processes that involve chemicals; with a focus on safety of our teams and compliance of facilities.

Benchmarking our in-plant chemical management against international standards like ZDHC, and use of tools such as Higg FEM for continuous tracking, informs our safety processes and mitigation plans. Based on the composition details and hazard codes in Safety Data Sheets (SDSs), we identify and track the toxic properties of chemicals to facilitate mitigation plans. To maximise worker safety, we conduct standardised, activity-based risk assessments, considering both hazard and exposure. High-risk chemicals are managed with clear risk-mitigation action plans, and we prioritise the sourcing of lower-risk Bluesign alternatives whenever feasible. We also utilise the SAC’s Higg Facility Environmental Module (FEM), and our own MAS SCalE (Sustainability Calibration for Environment) Tool, to monitor and verify the effectiveness of work stream implementations.

Controls and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for all chemical-related activities are in force within our facilities. These provide clear guidance and instructions for teams working with chemicals. This includes the use of appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) practices and process controls for chemical dosages, which are continuously monitored.

Capability development, through training and awareness programmes, ensures that our teams, including direct handlers and relevant management, are up-to-date on SOPs, emergency response protocols, and any updates to guidelines or regulations. This supports adherence to our chemical management requirements.

Output

Our commitment to responsible chemical use extends to the treatment and discharge of wastewater from our wet-processing facilities. We employ Effluent Treatment Systems to ensure effective removal of contaminants, and rigorously monitor effluent quality against national regulations and international benchmarks including ZDHC wastewater guidelines.

In Sri Lanka, all facilities within the MAS Fabric Park (MFP) discharge their wastewater to the MFP wastewater treatment plant. The wastewater undergoes secondary and tertiary treatment at MFP before being discharged into a surface water body. All treated wastewater is discharged in strict adherence to the standard parameters set by the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) and complies with the norms set by the Board of Investment (BOI) or other applicable country standards. We conduct quarterly tests and submit reports to local authorities and other regulatory bodies. Where applicable, our practices align with international effluent treatment standards, such as the ZDHC WWG.

Product Stewardship and Consumer Safety

Product safety is a fundamental component of our approach to product stewardship. This approach enables MAS to deliver on its commitment to responsible chemical use and our vision for sustainable products that are safe for the wearer.

We take a long-term, strategic, and multifaceted approach to assessing and managing the health and safety impacts of our products and services. This includes the governance structures, management systems, policies and standards, and strategies in place to integrate technical, chemical, and raw material-related compliance factors into our sourcing and production processes.

We verify the safety of our products through routine monitoring and output testing that adheres to brand and product-specific RSL requirements. These standards are cascaded to Tier 1 supply chain partners where applicable. Rigorous finished-product testing is carried out through third-party laboratories, based on brand recommendations for sample selection, running bulks, and shades/styles.

Responsible Chemical Use across the Supply Chain

We engage and work with all major raw material suppliers and monitor input chemicals compliance against the ZDHC MRSL for a significant portion of our spend-base; which includes suppliers of fabrics, apparel embellishments, and chemicals.

We also carry out further RSL testing for products and materials, if mandated by customers. Wherever appropriate, such brand-specific RSL requirements are cascaded to vendors and supply chain partners, and their confirmations, acknowledgements, and self-assessments enable compliance with the same. Similarly, we ensure subcontractors are monitored against ZDHC MRSL in their production process, which serves to restrict most chemicals of concern and meet brand-specific requirements.

Annual subcontractor forums are a key tool in raising awareness, communicating expectations, and ensuring compliance; while interim meetings serve as a monitoring tool to evaluate compliance and progress toward targets. When failures are found, or chemicals of concern likely to be regulated are identified, we work collaboratively with subcontractors to find safer alternatives.

Our approach to sustainable sourcing, and the success of our supplier compliance programme is detailed in how we Source Sustainably, as part of our commitment to Products Changed for Good.

From the smallest building blocks of life, to the largest ecosystems that sustain life, biodiversity is crucial for our planet, and our own survival. Rich biodiversity protects and promotes the essential ecosystem services upon which our industry depends. Conversely, biodiversity loss can disrupt supply chains, increase operational costs, and pose significant risks to business continuity.

Our Approach to Biodiversity Conservation

Our commitment to biodiversity conservation is founded on the mandate of sustainability, which involved addressing the physical impact of our facilities and built-spaces.

While none of our facilities are located in or adjacent to protected areas or areas of high biodiversity value, we set ourselves a proactive goal – to restore and rehabilitate an area 100 times the extent of our footprint, totaling 25,000 acres. To achieve this, we employ six primary models for habitat creation and conservation.

1. Restoration

2. Afforestation

3. Invasive Removal and Habitat Enrichment

4. Analog Forestry/Social Forestry

5. Forest Gardens

6. Conservation

Selection of projects aligns with three key objectives.

1. Restore and enrich habitats to support a diverse range of species.

2. Conserve habitats and species within their natural environments.

3. Protect and monitor existing biodiverse landscapes.

We prioritise partnerships and projects in areas of high biodiversity value; particularly those that are home to endemic, endangered, vulnerable, or threatened species. Given that our largest operational footprint is in Sri Lanka, much of our work has focused on the Island’s biodiversity hotspots. However, as our enterprise has expanded, so have our opportunities for positive impact.

Water is an indispensable resource in any industry, but particularly so in the apparel sector; which is dependent on irrigation water for cultivation of raw materials, and process-water for production of textiles. However, this heavy reliance on water, coupled with industrial processes that produce wastewater, poses significant risks to the environment and human populations.

The Importance of Water for our Operations, Communities, and Environment

Raw Material Production: Some of the most common raw materials used in everyday apparels are produced by agricultural production. As such, the industry relies on raw materials that require substantial water resources for cultivation. Beyond land-use change, unsustainable agricultural practices can exacerbate water scarcity and contribute to desertification or ecosystem degradation; especially in regions where water resources are already limited or facing increased pressure from anthropological shifts and resultant climate-change induced complexities.

Textile Production and Processing: Water is an essential element in various textile processing stages, including pre-treatment, dyeing, and finishing. These large-scale industrial processes can consume large volumes of water, and require dedicated wastewater treatment to remove excess dyes and chemicals that were introduced as part of the production process. Discharge of untreated wastewater, or unplanned discharge of effluent can result in dramatic consequences for the receiving waterbody, surrounding ecosystems, and the communities that depend on the same.

Our Water Footprint

To better understand our specific impact and dependency on this vital resource, we monitor water withdrawal across our operations and develop targeted strategies to improve water-efficiency, minimise waste, and ensure the long-term sustainability of our business, communities, and environment.

Sustainable Water Management at MAS

At the group level, we establish annual normalised water targets, which are then implemented across our strategic business units (SBUs) and divisions.

We believe that employee engagement is crucial to achieving these targets and successfully implementing our water stewardship strategies, which include water reuse and recycling. We monitor our progress against operational water-intensity targets: litres per kg for textile production and litres per-head per-shift (SAH) for apparel manufacturing.

Our efforts to reduce our reliance on freshwater involve increasing our use of harvested rainwater (wastewater) and scaling up utilisation through advanced treatment, recycling, and reuse technologies. Some of our apparel facilities have on-site Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) that treat wastewater for reuse in landscaping, sanitation systems, and other non-potable applications.

Recognising our responsibility to the communities in which we operate, particularly in water-stressed areas, we undertake various projects to improve water accessibility and quality. These community engagement initiatives strengthen relationships between our facilities and local stakeholders, contributing to broader sustainable water management efforts.