SHIRLEY TECHNOLOGIES
TEXTILE TESTING
PRESS RELEASE
February 8, 2010.
GREEN PROCESSES CLOSE TO MATCHING CHEAP-BUT-NON-GREEN MANUFACTURING.
Manufacturers and retailers buying cheaper-to-make non-green products to sell on to consumers and businesses alike are embracing a false economy.
Shirley Technologies (STL), one of the world’s leading textile testing laboratories, says that while the up-front cost of buying cheaper raw materials and specifying they be treated with cost-saving but less-than-environmentally ideal process chemicals is helping shave up-front costs, the ultimate price is higher.
“It sounds like a cue for a reference to products that ‘cost the earth’, but this is a financial message: cheaper products cost more in tax and corporate penalties, and yield lower green-aware financial rewards, incentives and benefits through being less environmentally-friendly,” said Asif Shah of Shirley Technologies.
“The less green the manufacturing and packaging process, the higher the taxes and costs to the originating company – this is inevitably passed on the retailer as an incurred cost.”
STL says businesses unsure of the green potential of their sourcing or manufacturing processes should be consulting Made in Green www.madeingreen.com, a not-for-profit organisation which certifies that the product, throughout its traceability chain, has been manufactured in factories which respect the environment and the universal rights of workers.
“It’s not just the sourcing, it’s the disposal processes: the waste-disposal industry now varies between charging for removing waste, or paying for the privilege depending upon the quality of that waste,” said Asif Shah.
“The least environmentally-friendly waste – that can be packaging, by-products and so on – yields lower revenues from waste disposal companies, while the ‘best’ waste can be sold to the highest bidders.
“We estimate that with current manufacturing technology, the green manufacturing process is on a level with the non-green manufacturing process, but the trend is moving such that green manufacturing will very soon become cheaper than environmentally-insensitive processes.
“Green manufacturing processes are developing and progressing so quickly that retailers have a duty to stay on top of progress, and, in some cases, may find they are close or at the point at which green makes more business sense than cheap.
“Green and organic food production and processing has moved from being viewed as somewhat oddball to now being accepted mainstream – textiles are a few years behind, but moving in the same direction.”
Shirley Technologies Ltd (STL) is a UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service) accredited laboratory providing competitive, independent, expert textile testing, certification, advisory and investigation services across the traditional and specialist textile industries.
STL is an independent subsidiary of BTTG Ltd, formerly the British Textile Technology Group. With more than 80 years experience, Shirley Technologies Ltd provides unrivalled and expert reassurance through its technical services to a global network of clients which include manufacturers, retailers, the legal profession, police, consumers and related interest groups including Trading Standards. Highly qualified and experienced technical staff work directly with clients to ensure that they receive the best advice and service in a wide range of technical areas.
Ends
Further information:
07788 978800/07795 848586
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