NRDC’s 10 Best Practices initiative does not call for large-scale retooling of the textile Industry. To the contrary, the opportunities summarized here are all easy-to-implement and low-cost opportunities that almost always pay for themselves in less than a year. Even absent concerns about environmental impacts or government requirements, these opportunities should be pursued because they enhance the productivity of mills and are good for the bottom line.

This new edition of 10 Best Practices for Textile Mills to Save Money and Reduce Pollution is organized into four parts. First, the guide recommends that metering to measure resource use be the point of entry into the improvement program. It then summarizes the 10 Best Practices that save water, fuel, and electricity (Table 1). For mills ready for more, there are additional recommendations for greater automation, dye recipe and equipment upgrades, and process management improvement. Finally, this guide presents a list of very simple housekeeping methods that will increase savings and efficiency at all mills with very little effort, even at those mills not yet ready to undertake other recommended improvements.