A Holistic Approach to Sustainability: Assessing the Environmental Impacts of Textile and Leather Industries in Ethiopia.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63456/tsrj-2-2-47Keywords:
Textile and leather industries, environmental impact, wastewater pollution, holistic sustainabilityAbstract
The global textile and leather industries are economically vital yet environmentally damaging due to their resource-intensive operations. In Ethiopia, aggressive industrialization of these sectors risks severe environmental degradation in the absence of a comprehensive sustainability strategy. Existing approaches remain fragmented, failing to address the interconnected impacts across the entire value chain. By synthesizing evidence from peer-reviewed literature, industry reports, and regulatory frameworks, this study provides a comprehensive assessment of the pollution profile, environmental fate of contaminants, and associated public health risks posed by these industries in Ethiopia. Findings reveal that effluents from Ethiopian factories consistently exceed permissible discharge limits, with Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) reaching up to 850.75 mg/L and chromium concentrations as high as 3.54 mg/L. These pollutants devastate aquatic ecosystems, contaminate soils and crops, and pose severe public health risks, including a 67% prevalence of dermatitis among tannery workers. Conventional end-of-pipe management strategies have proven insufficient to address this escalating crisis. In response, this paper proposes a holistic sustainability framework that integrates circular economy principles, cleaner production technologies such as chromium recovery and enzymatic processing, and stringent policy enforcement mechanisms. This integrated strategy aims to align Ethiopia's industrial growth trajectory with long-term environmental stewardship and social equity, offering a replicable model for sustainable industrial development in resource-constrained settings.
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