Carbon Footprint Management System Helps To Implement The Identification Certification System Of Textile Printing And Dyeing Industry

Promoting green and low-carbon economic and social development is an important symbol of the new concept and practice of the Party's governance in the new era, as well as a key link to achieve high-quality development. The Decision of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee pointed out that we should improve the green and low-carbon development mechanism and actively and steadily promote carbon peak and carbon neutrality. It is specifically listed to build a carbon emission statistical accounting system, a product carbon identification certification system, and a product carbon footprint management system. What is the carbon label certification system? What is a carbon footprint management system? At present, some places and key industries have carried out pilot work. Today, let's go to Shaoxing, Zhejiang to see the exploration of textile industry there.

In the production workshop and warehouse of Zhejiang Shaoxing Ellis Dyeing and Finishing Co., Ltd., the staff of Shaoxing Market Supervision Administration are conducting a detailed investigation on the carbon emissions of the enterprise's main products in various production links, and also obtaining the carbon emissions related data of upstream and downstream enterprises, such as various major raw material suppliers and transportation and sales enterprises. If these data meet the standard after integration, the Market Supervision Administration will issue a "carbon label" certification certificate for this product dyed and finished by Ellis.

Carbon label certification is a key system in China's construction of product carbon footprint management system. The so-called carbon footprint refers to the total amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases emitted directly or indirectly by human beings in production and life. The product carbon footprint management system calculates the carbon emissions of a product in the whole life cycle of raw materials, manufacturing, transportation, sales, use, waste and recycling, including not only the product itself, but also the carbon emissions of its industrial chain, supply chain and other related areas.

Xing Baiying, Deputy Director of the Comprehensive Division of the Climate Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said, "The Ministry of Ecology and Environment, together with 15 departments, issued the Implementation Plan on Building a Carbon Footprint Management System in June this year, which is actually the management of China's product carbon footprint, equivalent to a top-level design. The carbon identification certification system mainly means that after the carbon footprint information data of enterprise products are calculated, they need to be certified by a third-party certification agency, and may also be displayed to consumers in the form of labels or logos on the product packaging. It is also mentioned in this implementation plan document that local governments and enterprises are encouraged to explore in combination with their own reality. "

Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province is an important textile production and trade center in the world, with nearly 8000 large-scale textile enterprises. Its printing and dyeing capacity accounts for one third of the national market share. Nearly one quarter of the world's textile products are traded in Shaoxing. Shaoxing's annual textile export scale has exceeded 100 billion yuan. With such a scale and volume, Shaoxing textile industry as a pilot of carbon footprint management system is of great reference value. In July 2024, the National Comprehensive Pilot Implementation Plan for Zhejiang Carbon Peak Carbon Neutralization Certification was released, and the Shaoxing textile industry carbon footprint identification certification pilot was included in the key tasks of the comprehensive pilot.

Li Dong, Director of the Conformity Assessment Supervision and Administration Department of Zhejiang Market Supervision Bureau, said, "The textile industry is one of the leading industries in Zhejiang, and it also accounts for a large share of global exports. In the whole life process of the textile industry, the whole industry chain is the most complete, the data is the most complete, and the application scenarios are also the most complete. Therefore, we chose the textile industry as the traditional industry upgrade, which is very typical. "

To establish a carbon footprint management system, a very important task is to develop standards. At the national level, relevant guidance plans have been issued. Zhejiang has specially established the textile industry "carbon footprint identification" certification technology alliance, and introduced domestic and international certification agencies to jointly develop accounting methods and standards.

Jiang Jingyi, a technical expert of Zhejiang Green Certification Alliance, said, "When formulating existing standards, we will also refer to some standards that have been published or issued internationally to ensure that the standards formulated now can be more consistent with, or be in line with, international standards and be recognized internationally."

Through various efforts, Shaoxing has successively released a series of local standards for carbon footprint technical specifications such as chemical fiber fabrics, cotton fabrics and silk fabrics, filling the gap in the industry. Based on the requirements of relevant international and domestic standards and certification systems, a carbon footprint management platform for textile products has been created, which can realize the full process, full cycle and full coverage of carbon footprint accounting of products.

With such a clear carbon footprint data of the whole product process, the chain owner enterprises can clearly understand where their products can further save energy and reduce carbon, forcing them and upstream and downstream supply chain enterprises to make corresponding changes.

Not long ago, Shaoxing Municipal Market Supervision and Administration Bureau issued carbon label certification certificates for 15 textile enterprises in Shaoxing for the first time. Many of these enterprises have made corresponding measures in terms of energy conservation and carbon reduction. Zhejiang Buchuang Textile Group Co., Ltd. has installed solar photovoltaic on the roof of the plant, which can cover 50% of the enterprise's electricity demand.

Zhejiang Baofang Printing and Dyeing Co., Ltd. has installed a carbon emission data collector in each production link of the enterprise, so as to better observe the carbon emissions of each process, optimize the process, and better save energy and reduce emissions.

Product carbon footprint management, on the one hand, puts forward carbon reduction requirements for enterprises, but also helps enterprises solve practical problems. For example, the current EU carbon tariff has covered high energy consumption industries such as electricity, cement and steel, and is expected to be formally extended to textile and other industries in 2026. At that time, it will also have a certain impact on the domestic textile industry exports, and carbon reduction is actually a problem that enterprises have to face.

Therefore, both at the national level and in various pilot industries and regions, the international exchange and integration of accounting rules are always considered as an important factor when formulating standards. Such a carbon footprint management system, on the one hand, can guide enterprises and industries to achieve energy conservation and emission reduction, obtain their own interests and social benefits, and also help enterprises to actively respond to international trade barriers and take the lead in international trade.

Xing Baiying: "From the perspective of the government, it is to create a policy orientation and policy environment conducive to reducing the carbon footprint; For enterprises, we will help them, tell them what the carbon footprint is, find out the background of the carbon footprint of key products and competitive products, and then open up the whole chain of carbon footprint management of this product, and clear up the pain points and blockages in the process of carbon footprint management of products. "

Qianyong Textile is also one of the first enterprises in Shaoxing to obtain carbon label certification. What enterprises did not expect was that they had tasted the benefits just after getting the carbon label.

Xiao Xingshui, General Manager of Shaoxing Qianyong Textile Co., Ltd., said, "When we provided information, the customer was surprised to see our carbon footprint certificate. After reporting to the head office as an additional item, this carbon footprint certificate has brought great effect and effect on our becoming a supplier of uniform equipment fabrics."

Having tasted the benefits of carbon label certification, Qianyong Textile carefully studied the improvement suggestions put forward by the certification authority and made great efforts in carbon emission when building a new factory. From equipment to process, from hardware to software, Qianyong Textile has invested 100 million yuan in front and behind, independently developed new printing software and nano ink, greatly improved the printing fineness of products, reduced the pollutant discharge to one tenth of ordinary printing, and reduced the water consumption by more than 90%.

In addition, a waste gas collection and reuse system is also installed in the new plant area, which recycles the waste gas discharged from production to the heating link, further reducing emissions.

After the completion of these facilities, Qianyong Textile again invited a third-party certification agency, hoping to continue to reduce the carbon label value of its products, and the accounting results also confirmed the efforts of the enterprise.

For these products and enterprises that take the lead in green transformation, the state also encourages local governments to provide some support in terms of policies, finance and application scenarios. For example, the green low-carbon score is included in the investment rating, and green low-carbon products are prioritized in the government procurement list. At the same time, green transformation also needs market recognition and consumer support.

With the concerted efforts of national and local governments, enterprises and industry associations, in addition to the textile industry in Shaoxing, many regions and industries across the country are also constantly exploring the establishment of a carbon footprint management system. These practical experiences, through summary and refinement, will help China to form a unified national standard.

The Implementation Plan on Establishing a Carbon Footprint Management System proposed that about 100 carbon footprint accounting rules and standards for key products should be formulated and issued by 2027, and the carbon footprint management system should be initially established; By 2030, about 200 carbon footprint accounting rules and standards for key products will be formulated, and the carbon footprint management system will be more perfect.

Compared with the carbon identification certification system for a product, the more long-term goal is to establish a carbon footprint information disclosure system for enterprises, that is, to encourage enterprises to share environmental information, sustainable development information and other accounting results and reports to the society on the premise of ensuring data security and intellectual property rights, Transform green and low-carbon into one of the core elements of enterprise development.

The gradual exploration and establishment of the carbon footprint management system will become a new way to promote the green transformation of industries in China, and the green low-carbon transformation at the production end is a necessary condition for China to achieve the "double carbon" goal of carbon peak carbon neutrality. For industries and enterprises, consumers and the market are the ultimate driving force to support their development; For consumers, if we can include green and low-carbon products into our price performance standards, we will really participate in the process of green transformation of the industry. The exploration and efforts in green and low-carbon will eventually be presented in the blue sky, green trees and fresh air around us.

(Source: CCTV)