Pollution Overload threatens Indonesian Industry

The Citarum River in Indonesia has become one of the world’s most densely polluted waterways at the hands of the hundreds of factories that line it’s banks and dump their waste in the river.

Waste from surrounding factories has contaminated an estimated 2,300 acres of rice fields with heavy metals resulting in a loss of nearly $866 million over two decades. This kind of careless dumping and continuation of unsustainable business practices has come into the spotlight recently. Companies that have come into question include three of the world’s-largest textile manufacturers.

Indonesia ranks among the top 10 textile and apparel producing countries in the world, and this segmentation contributes to a majority of the clothing production and retail worldwide.

The manufacturers in question were granted a wastewater permit, which, in theory, would have reduced the on-going pollution to the Citarum and the regions/businesses surrounding the river. Even with the granted level of permitted dumping, these manufacturers were unable to comply with the permitted emission levels.

Working with defective manufacturers must be taken seriously by clothing retailers and suppliers globally. Knowledge of the geopolitical situations, current news and trends is an important attribute when assessing and reacting to supply chain risks.

Supplier Relationship Management, in the form of pre-evaluation and assessment of supply chain practices is a key performance indicator for the success of globally visible supply chains. Integrating your supply chain with digitally enhanced daily operations to improve supplier governance and compliance is crucial in the agile marketplace that is today’s transparent global market.

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