Three—Year Action Plan for the Collaboration for Sustainable Development of Viscose published

By Zhao Zihan

In order to comply with the global sustainable development trend and implement Chinas sustainable development strategy， and guide Chinas regenerated cellulose fiber industry to comprehensively improve the level of sustainable development， the Collaboration for Sustainable Development of Viscose （CV） publicly released the “Three-Year Action Plan for the Collaboration for Sustainable Development of Viscose” （hereinafter referred to as “Three-Year Action Plan”） to the whole society on September 5， 2018.

CV is formed by 10 of viscose fibre producers – collectively representing over 50% of the worlds viscose staple fibre production – in partnership with two trade associations. This self-regulating initiative will see its members adopt a much-needed sustainability roadmap for the viscose industry. CV offers viscose producers a platform to achieve sustainable viscose and help their customers deliver on their sustainability commitments.

Diao Minrui， Vice General Manager & Chief Engineer of Tangshan Sanyou Group Xingda Chemical Fiber Co.， Ltd.， President Unit of the CV， introduced the main contents of the Three-Year Action Plan to the participants.

The “Three-Year Action Plan” clarifies the overall goal of the industrys development in the next three years： to establish a sustainable development public communication platform for mutual supervision and mutual promotion between industries， master and regularly publish the status quo of the industrys energy conservation and environmental protection， put forward the industrys sustainable development action goals and paths， urge CV companies to improve environmental performance to enable them to achieve the worlds leading sustainable development level， and guide the global regenerated cellulose fiber industry to minimize the environmental impact throughout the life cycle of the products.

The Three-Year Action Plan clearly states that regenerated cellulose fibers take up less land and less water than cotton production， reducing labor use and avoiding damage to land and the environment. Compared with polyester fiber， the raw material of regenerated cellulose fiber can be regenerated， and the product can be degraded. Therefore， the existence and development of regenerated cellulose fibers have important economic and social value.

However， certain waste water and waste gas will be produced in the production process of regenerated cellulose fibers， which will have certain impact on the environment. In fact， in the past 10 years， led by a group of leading enterprises， Chinas regenerated cellulose fiber industry has continued to update its production equipment， increase technological transformation and energy conservation and environmental protection investment， so that the comprehensive energy consumption and water consumption of the industrys tons of products continue to decline. The total sulfur recovery rate has gradually increased， but technological progress has not fully compensated for the environmental impact of capacity growth.

The “Three-Year Action Plan” clearly stated in the overall goal： through three years of improvement， by the end of 2020， compared with the average level of the textile industry in the early 13th Five-Year Program， the overall energy consumption will have decreased by 10%， fresh water consumption will have decreased by 31%， and the total sulfur recovery rate will have increased by 7%.

Moreover， the “Three-Year Action Plan” also clarifies the core content of Chinas regenerated cellulose fiber industry to promote sustainable development in the next three years， involving raw material procurement management， production process management and product safety management. The mission is to create an industry-leading information publishing platform， build a sustainable industry chain sharing platform， and build an industry sustainable development management platform.