The Good Fashion Fund’s USD 4.5 million investment in Pratibha Syntex will be used to replace machinery in the spinning, processing, and garmenting divisions, as well as provide new equipment for the expansion of their activities and facilities.
“Pratibha Syntex can invest in securing a sustainable future for our processes with the capital provided by the Good Fashion Fund, which will have positive, compounded effects across the value chain. We are extremely pleased with the collaboration and are eager to continue on our path towards positive impact.” – Shreyaskar Chaudhary, Pratibha Syntex Limited’s Managing Director
This week saw the Good Fashion Fund’s first on-site monitoring visit, which was supported by its advisors Sphera, FairwearFoundation, Global CAD, and Adelphi in order to establish progress. made since the investment. As expected, the equipment’s impact results comfortably exceed the 50% savings threshold in all key areas (specifically the three Goods: Energy, Water and Materials). All parties were impressed with the progress made on the environmental and social action items, especially the roadmap developed by Pratibha Syntex Limited for future improvements as part of their vision for 2025 and beyond.
“We are very pleased with the partnership with Pratibha Syntex Limited, a frontrunner in terms of sustainability. The initial environmental, social, and financial impacts of our investment have exceeded our expectations and are consistent with our mission of connecting impact technologies to the industry in order to collaboratively address its challenges. The findings of the study demonstrate this. Monitoring visits ensure that sustainability is ingrained in their DNA and thus fully aligned with the Good Fashion Fund’s objectives. We will continue to invest in apparel manufacturers in India and Bangladesh to deliver good fashion, economic growth, and fair jobs, demonstrating how to invest beyond sustainability and towards a restorative and regenerative apparel supply chain.” – Bernadette Blom, Good Fashion Fund Director.
Pratibha Syntex has installed new spinning equipment, solar panels, a continuous tumble dryer, and improved effluent treatment since the investment. The new spinning equipment (card chute, comber, ring frame, autoconer) is far more efficient than the legacy machinery in terms of energy consumption and waste generation. Solar panel investment is ongoing, but Renewable energy already accounts for more than 30% of total consumption, and additional installations are planned to bring that figure up to 50%. The continuous tumble dryer has replaced several pieces of fabric-treatment equipment, completely eliminating the need for water and significantly reducing power consumption.
The Effluent Treatment Plant has been upgraded with new filters, allowing for more water recycling, reclaiming most of the water used (some water is lost due to evaporation), eliminating chemical sludge generated (reducing landfill waste), and lowering energy consumption. Pratibha is establishing a process that will treat neighbouring wastewater in addition to their own in order to achieve complete circularity and reduce the need for freshwater. In their process, clean water is produced. Thus, the investment has an impact on freshwater use, waste (water) discharged, and chemical usage.
“Through initiatives such as the Good Fashion Fund, the Laudes Foundation encourages and challenges the fashion industry to use its power for good. Pratibha Syntex’s environmental and social impact with this investment is a great example of how finance can rapidly accelerate apparel manufacturing decarbonisation and help provide safe and dignified jobs for all apparel workers.” – Kelly Clark, Laudes Foundation’s Director of Finance and Capital Market Transformation.
Pratibha Syntex, in addition to manufacturing cotton, fibres, fabrics, and apparel, is involved in social initiatives to create employment for women in rural communities. They are actively marketing. Women’s empowerment and diversity, with the goal of increasing the number of women in supervisory roles and others directly engaging with senior management to understand and become involved in the entire business.
