German consultant on industrial pollution prevention Dr Ing. Harald Schoenberger has a made a presentation at SMA Rizvi Textile Institute here on Wednesday. Members of the Towel Manufacturers Association (TMA), which had arranged the study in co-ordination with International Finance Corporation (IFC), attended the presentation.
According to a press release issued here on Thursday, the team of consultants had visited seven factories in all the major industrial areas of Karachi to assess needs and the possibility of installing effluent treatment plants. The presentation concluded that there is shortage of space in the factories coupled with the high cost of the treatment plants. Therefore, individual treatment plants are not feasible.
The study recommended setting up of collective or common treatment plants. It is also recommended that the plants may be fabricated locally to save foreign exchange and if needed any parts may be imported. The study also recommended designing a micro recycling plant as a pilot project through financing from the Export Development Fund.
Efforts at treating the effluents are now required by foreign importers and such steps are expected to boost the exports. The government should, therefore, take up the matter and arrange the required funding for the early setting up of the plants in all the five industrial areas of Karachi.-PR