ASIA – The governments of Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Vietnam have vowed to address their respective textile sectors’ use of chemicals with the view to moving away from potentially hazardous substances and improving supply chain sustainability.

Led by the United Nations’ (UN) Environment Programme, the agreement will see US$43 million in funding deployed over five years to align public policy across the four nations and ultimately mitigate the future use of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) and POPs (Persistent Organic Pollutants).

Eloise Touni, the UNEP’s chemicals and waste programme officer, commented: “While governments have agreed global bans of the worst chemicals through the Stockholm Convention on POPs, value chains still use thousands of hazardous chemicals like PFAS. UNEP is proud to work with governments and front-runner companies to scale up best practices and phase out chemicals of concern across the whole sector.”

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Founded in 2006, Ecotextile News is the environmental magazine for the global textile and fashion industries and provides unrivalled daily coverage, comment and expertise in both print and online formats.