Chemical Management for Textile and Leather Processors

target audience

Supplier Profile: Textile and Leather Processors

Supplier facilities that manufacture materials which are used further in finished products/ end- articles and have chemical intensive wet processes in their manufacturing facilities.

Accessories and Trims Processor

• Processing (dyeing/printing/finishing) of textile materials that are used as accessories or trims in garments. Example: Sewing thread, narrow/zip fabric, buttons made of fabric, lining, interlining, lace, braids, labels

• Metal parts (pins, clips, tag pins, metals used in zippers, rivets, iron seals) or paper and plastic parts (tissue paper, paper band, plastic hangers, polybags, gum tape, backboard, neck board, inner carton, hanger) are excluded from the scope.

Garment Washing (Laundry)

• Cleaning, washing, softening, or applying specific functional finishes to garments made from textiles to enhance their appearance, texture or functional properties. (such as T-shirts, dresses, bottomwear, jeans)

Garment Dyeing and/or Printing

• Dyeing/ Overdyeing and/ or printing, softening, finishing, washing of garments made from textiles (such as T-shirts, dresses, bottomwear, jeans)

Fibre, Yarn or Fabric Processor

• Processing of fibres, yarns and/or fabrics that involves desizing, bleaching, scouring, optical whitening, mercerising, caustising, dyeing, printing, digital printing, washing, finishing, coating, laminating

Pigment/Panel/Transfer Printing (Only)

• Exclusive processing that involves only pigment printing, panel (ink) printing or transfer printing of textile or leather materials

Coating and/or Lamination (Only) for synthetic footwear or other applications

• Manufacturing units that apply polymeric coatings or laminates to synthetic textile or leather substrates to enhance their functional properties. These coatings, including Polyurethane (PU), Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), and other specialised polymers, are used in the production of synthetic coated fabric for footwear, upholstery materials, water-repellent textiles, flame-retardant materials, and other industrial and consumer applications.

Vertically integrated mill

• Spinning, knitting, weaving of textile material and processing that involves desizing, bleaching, scouring, optical whitening, mercerising, caustising, dyeing, printing, digital printing, washing, finishing, coating, laminating and/or garment processing/assembling

Sizing

• Application of size to textile materials only

Down and Feathers Processor

• Washing and finishing of feathers and down obtained from different sources like ducks or geese for manufacturing products such as bedding, pillows, comforters, and jackets

Tanned hide/skin to finished leather

• Processing of pre-tanned hides or skins through post-tanning and finishing operations to produce fully finished leather

Crust hide/skin to finished leather

• Processing of semi-finished crust leather which includes finishing processes to produce finished leather

Tanned hide/skin to crust leather

• Processing of tanned hides or skins through post-tanning operations to produce crust leather

Raw hide/skin to tanned

• Processing of raw hides or skins up to the pre-tanning stage, producing pickled or pre-tanned materials to prepare the hides for tanning

Raw hide/skin to crust

• Processing of raw hides or skins through tanning and post-tanning stages to produce crust leather

Raw hide/skin to finished leather

• Completion of the full leather production process from raw hides or skins to finished leather which includes tanning, post-tanning, and finishing

Raw hide/skin to pickle/pre-tanned material

• Processing of raw hides or skins up to the pre-tanning stage, producing pickled or pre-tanned materials to prepare the hides for tanning

If you do not fall under any of these categories, you may be eligible for another course instead. You can also ask the Zeddy chatbot, check with the ATP, or reach out to the Academy team to ensure you are signing up for the correct course.

prerequisite

Learners should have any one of the following to sign up for this course:

• Chemical Management Fundamentals course certificate
• Chemical Management Fundamentals Exam only certificate
• Valid certificate of any one of the following courses:
  • CMS TIG Training
  • CMS TIG Refresher Training
  • Top 10 Best practices

If you do not have either of the above, you will not be accepted into the training course. Please upload the relevant certificate at the sign up stage.

learning outcome

By the end of this course, learners will be able to:

Input

• Develop and implement a chemical purchasing policy covering formulations, commodity chemicals, and solvents in line with ZDHC MRSL requirements.

• Maintain an accurate and up-to-date ZDHC Chemical Inventory List (CIL) and use it to drive purchasing and improvement actions.

• Generate and interpret ZDHC Performance InCheck Reports and take corrective actions to improve MRSL conformance.

• Implement chemical traceability, including lot/batch recording and FIFO practices, to support compliance, audits, and root cause analysis.

• Manage input materials through structured purchasing, traceability, self-declarations, certifications, and risk-based due diligence processes, including maintaining the ZDHC Material Inventory List (MIL).

Process

• Define the scope, goals, and action plan of a Chemical Management Strategy (CMS), including engagement with upstream suppliers.

• Allocate roles, responsibilities, and resources required for effective CMS implementation.

• Design, assess, and improve safe chemical storage systems, including labelling, chemical safety cards, and compatibility precautions.

• Identify chemical exposure risks in textile and leather processes and implement appropriate engineering, administrative, and PPE controls.

• Establish document and process control systems, including SOPs for document control, incident management, housekeeping, and maintenance.

• Review and improve the CMS through audits, management reviews, corrective actions, and structured training plans.

Output

• Identify, quantify, and manage chemical-related waste, including safe storage, handling, reduction, reuse, and disposal.

• Understand wastewater and sludge testing requirements, interpret ClearStream reports, and plan improvement actions based on results.

• Conduct RCA and CAP for MRSL, metals, and conventional parameter non-conformities in wastewater and sludge.

• Calculate Potential to Emit (PTE) for VOCs and understand the use of the ZDHC Air Emissions Module.

• Understand and report Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions using ZDHC tools.

course curriculum

This course covers the following topics:

Input

• Chemical Purchasing
• InCheck Reporting
• Chemical Traceability
• Input Material Purchasing
• Input Material Traceability

Process

• Chemical Management Strategy
• Safe Chemical Storage
• Chemical Handling and worker safety
• Document and Process Control
• Continuous Improvement Actions
• Waste Management

Output

• Wastewater and Sludge guidelines
• Air Emissions
• Waste Disposal