Assessing baseline water footprints of natural fiber textile products in China

Water resources play an indispensable role in the textile and apparel industry. The setting of baseline water footprint for textile products is crucial in water management activities. In this study, we propose a novel method to calculate and evaluate the baseline water footprints for natural fiber textiles based on the ISO 14046 methodology. The baseline water footprints here refer to the maximum values of the water footprints that satisfy the required regulations managed by the government or the industry. It means that, the lower the baseline water footprint of the product, the lower the environmental impact of the product on water resources. The indicators including the water scarcity footprint, the water eutrophication footprint, and the water ecotoxicity footprint are considered in the water management assessment. The original data of 25 typical textile products from different enterprises were obtained from the series water withdrawal and pollutant discharge standards issued by the Chinese government. The baseline water footprints for three enterprises in different management levels (namely existing enterprises, new and expanding enterprises, and advanced enterprises) were calculated and assessed. To verify the validity of the obtained baseline values of the different categories of textile products, six typical textile enterprises were investigated. The results show that the established baselines allow for a clear classification of enterprises into reasonable levels according to the water footprint results of their representative products. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that water footprint baselines for textiles have been developed. The development of these baselines can help textile manufacturers, textile industry and government to recognize the similarities and differences in water quantity and quality among different products, and to effectively enabling the transformation and upgrading of products within the industry. It also informs the further development of regulatory and management-related measures and policies, as well as provides a reference for water management and research in the future.