A socio-technical approach: Facilitating the adoption of green chemistry in India’s textile processing

Abstract

The textile industry relies on a series of processing steps—pretreatment, coloration, and finishing—to achieve the desired textiles properties. These processes use extensive amounts of water, energy, and chemicals, which have detrimental effects on the environment. One approach to minimise these impacts is to replace traditional chemicals with lower-impact chemicals, referred to as green chemistry (GC). Adopting GC has proven challenging, especially in developing countries, such as India. This is an area of concern given the accelerated outsourcing of textile processing to these countries owing to lower costs and less stringent regulations. Therefore, this study aimed to explore how the adoption of GC can be facilitated in India’s textile processing. To do this, a qualitative study using a socio-technical approach was employed, combining both actor network theory and diffusion of innovation theory. Desk research was employed to identify 19 human and non-human actors involved in the network. This was followed by 11 interviews that were used to gather insights into actors’ roles and interactions, what characteristics are required to evoke actors’ interest and support, and the barriers hindering GC adoption.

The findings were used to develop six overarching recommendations made up of obligatory passage points that the actors must engage in to achieve the common goal of creating a network that facilitates GC adoption. The six overarching recommendations were meaningful collaboration, supportive governance, education reform, redefining evaluation metrics, maximising trial outcomes, and managing costs. Each recommendation enrolled the most adept actors, addressed the barriers to GC adoption, and addressed the characteristics required to evoke the actors’ interest and support towards adopting green chemistry. The main takeaway of the study was that despite the urgency for change needed to address the environmental impact of textile processing, a business-as-usual mindset persists because the blame is shifted onto others for the inability to fulfill their roles. In reality, there is a systemic issue made up of a lack of commitment and collaboration resulting from a disinterest in the common objective of reducing the impact of textile processing. To facilitate GC adoption within India’s textile processing, all actors must accept responsibility for their roles and work together collectively, leveraging their strengths to achieve impactful change.