The International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) Conference was held in Mauritius during 11-14 October 2008. The theme of the conference was “Challenges for a Greener and more Sustainable Textile Industry”. Major stakeholders including manufacturing industries, universities, scientists and buyers were present. The conference was a platform for sharing knowledge, experiences and innovative ideas for the development of an eco-friendly textile industry.

Deliberations during the conference indicated that the development of a greener textile industry has assumed crucial importance as climate change could have devastating consequences for the global economy if no urgent and concrete actions are taken. Besides market trends indicate that buyers increasingly require suppliers to respond to sustainable production, and comply with acceptable standards related to quality, environmental management and social accountability.

The development of a local cleaner production base can be leveraged to attract international buyers. Thus following the last ITMF Conference the Ministry of Industry, Science and Research, in consultations with various stakeholders, had developed a Work Programme to support and facilitate the achievement of a greener and more sustainable industry in Mauritius. Activities, with clear time line, have been identified for implementing agencies to support the local manufacturing industry.

In its quest to further promote a greener and more sustainable industry in Mauritius, the Ministry of Industry, Science and Research in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment & NDU, MEXA, UNIDO and UNDP organized a workshop in July 2009. The aim of the workshop was to sensitize relevant stakeholders about the growing concern of sustainable development and cleaner production especially to the industrial sector. Besides, operators in the manufacturing sector would be encouraged to adopt appropriate cleaner production technologies. At the end of the workshop a series of recommendations emerged with a view to promoting a greener and more sustainable industry in Mauritius and were as follows:

Setting up of a Resource Efficient and Cleaner Production(RECP) Programme

However demand on the global market is emphasizing more and more on environment-friendly products. Over the years different initiatives have been taken to set up a National Cleaner Production Centre in Mauritius. Nevertheless these efforts have not led to the establishment of the centre due to a number of reasons including the lack of coordinated international support as well as due to lack of human resource and expertise. One of the main activities of the centre would have been to collect and disseminate information on cleaner technologies to operators in order to ensure efficient and effective management of environmental assets, and assist industries to better respond to international environmental standards and norms.

Since UNIDO has assisted many countries in establishing some 42 Cleaner Production Centers and further to the Government’s call for international technical support, a joint UNIDO/UNEP delegation visited Mauritius in April 2009. Their mission was initially aimed at making an assessment of existing facilities, and advising the Government of Mauritius on the setting up of a National Resource Efficient and Cleaner Production (RECP) Centre. This preparatory mission was followed by another mission whereby a UNIDO/UNEP mission visited Mauritius to evaluate the institution that would be most appropriate to host the centre. The mission recommended that, a RECP Programme be implemented, in the first instance, over a period of three years. At a later stage depending on the outcome of the RECP Programme the establishment of the Centre would be considered.