Chapter 6 — full chapter
Chapter 6 — Midstream Strategies: Manufacturing Implementation
Midstream strategies address the manufacturing and processing stages of the textile value chain. This chapter explains Best Available Techniques from the EU BREF for textiles, midstream case studies (Jeanologia, Artistic Milliners), smart manufacturing (IoT, AI, digital twins) and industrial symbiosis (Orange Fiber, Sabant, Spinnova). The chapter addresses two positions in the value chain: those who operate manufacturing processes, and those brands, designers and SMEs without their own factories, who influence them by specifying requirements, asking suppliers the right questions, comparing evidence and monitoring performance. For the second group, each BAT area below is paired with the question to put to a supplier.
Midstream strategies address the manufacturing and processing stages of the textile value chain, focusing on how materials, water, energy, and chemicals are used within production systems. Their objective is to improve resource efficiency while minimizing pollution, waste, and greenhouse gas emissions. Key approaches include process optimization, closed-loop production systems, sustainable chemical management, water and energy efficiency measures, waste reduction, and optimized factory operations. These strategies are commonly implemented through environmental management systems such as ISO 14001 and EMAS. A management-system certificate confirms that an organisation’s system meets the requirements of the standard; it is not a verification of a particular level of environmental performance, which has to be demonstrated separately through measured data. This chapter unpacks the midstream strategies from the European Commission’s Best Available Techniques (BAT) Reference Document (BREF) for the Textiles Industry, published under the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED), into nine overarching topics: Overall Environmental Performance, Monitoring, Water Consumption & Wastewater, Energy Efficiency, Chemicals Management, Emissions to Water, Emissions to Soil & Groundwater, Emissions to Air, and Waste. BAT conclusions under the (Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) apply mainly to larger textile processing plants. Brands and SMEs outside that scope are not legally bound by them, but can use BAT as a supplier-engagement and benchmarking reference when specifying requirements and interpreting supplier data.
In this chapter:
- 6.1 Best Available Techniques for Textile Manufacturing
- 6.2 Midstream Case Studies
- 6.3 Smart Manufacturing
- 6.4 Industrial Symbiosis