WASTE MANAGEMENT COGNIZANCE IN KNITWEAR UNITS OF LUDHIANA

The increasing pace of industrial development has created concerns for the environmental issues. Knitting industry has been characterized as one of the highly polluting industries generating a huge amount of waste that creates various environmental problems and hazards. The present study was effectuated to study the different types of waste generation and waste utilization practices followed by the knitting units of Ludhiana. An exploratory survey of ten knitting units was conducted using a self structured interview schedule. It was noted that majority of the units were established during 1999 to 2009 with an initial investment of 90-95 lakhs and were having an annual turnover upto 15 crores. Total 2305 employees were employed in the selected knitting units, out of which 1233 were skilled workers, 751 were semi-skilled workers, 271 were unskilled workers, 30 were supervisors and 20 were managers. The waste hosiery fabrics were generated in the form of surplus fabric after order completion, fabric roll end waste and fabric with cuts or torn fabric (50%). In cutting and stitching sections, waste was mainly generated due to cutting left overs and thread waste (50% each). All the ten selected units sell the waste fabrics to rag collectors, five units to retailers and three units to shoddy industries. It was also reported that four units either dispose off or burn the waste to get rid of it. The major problem faced for proper utilization of waste fabrics was lack of designing knowledge (80%) followed by shortage of time (70%) and inadequate skills (60%).