Water conservation and wastewater treatment are important aspects of Hanesbrands’ commitment to environmental responsibility. In the last two years, we have significantly reduced total water used per manufactured item. All of our fabric textiles facilities have wastewater treatment systems designed to adhere to the best wastewater management practices globally. In many cases, we have implemented creative solutions to go well beyond regulatory requirements.

Water conservation

In 2008, we set a corporate goal of reducing total water use intensity (water used per manufactured unit) by 10 percent by 2012 (against a 2007 baseline). By the end of 2009, we exceeded this goal by reducing our water use per product by nearly 18 percent. This water savings could supply the annual water requirements of nearly 4,000 average American homes.

Our El Salvador Textiles facility in San Juan Opico instituted a comprehensive water conservation program in late 2009, assembling a team to identify ways to save 2.6 million gallons per week. The nearby El Salvador Socks facility also reuses water from industrial processes, already saving 2.3 million gallons per year.

In the search for more ways to reduce our water footprint, we are conducting several innovative research projects on fabric dyeing, which consumes large amounts of water. These projects have the potential to dramatically reduce our water use even further.

Wastewater Treatment

Fabric textile manufacturing facilities use significant amounts of water, which must be treated before being returned to the ecosystem. We have constructed advanced wastewater treatment plants to support our three fabric textiles facilities around the world, in the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, and China.

  • Each of these wastewater plants has a treatment capacity of 2 million gallons per day. They employ activated sludge treatment, a naturally occurring biological process that has been proven to effectively treat textile process wastewater, as well as wastewater from sanitary sources. Additionally, each plant now incorporates an anoxic pretreatment process that has been shown to further remove color associated with textile dyeing.
  • The plants supporting our Dos Rios Textiles facility in the Dominican Republic and our manufacturing complex in San Juan Opico, El Salvador, feature on-site laboratories for assuring that all regulatory performance criteria are met or surpassed.
  • The wastewater treatment plant supporting our Nanjing, China, textiles facility began startup testing in 2009.

Our sewing facilities in La Ceiba, Honduras, and Surin, Thailand, are supported by wastewater treatment plants constructed to zero-discharge levels – that is, wastewater is treated and reused, rather than being released to surface water or sewage systems. Treated effluent from these plants is used to irrigate nearby landscaping and soccer fields, while treated solid waste from the plants is used as fertilizer. A third zero-discharge wastewater treatment plant is being built for our Hung Yen, Vietnam, sewing facility.