Ecological modernisation and institutional transformations in the Danish textile industry

Journal of Cleaner Production 12 (2004) 337–352www.elsevier.com/locate/jclepro

Ecological modernisation and institutional transformations in theDanish textile industry

Bent Sønderga˚rd ∗Ole Erik Hansen, Jesper HolmDepartment of Technology, Environment and Social Studies, Roskilde University, PO 260, DK4000 Roskilde, Denmark

Received 18 February 2002; accepted 16 March 2003

Abstract

In the 1990s Danish environmental policy was characterised by an endeavour towards ecological modernisation. Based on studiesof environmental programs and enterprise responses this article examines how the Danish textile industry has related to this modern-isation process, and how the institutional setting and environmental practices of this industry have been transformed. This transform-ation is understood as a reflexive process where enterprises have responded strategically to programs and institution building basedon the national ecological modernisation strategy. The paper reveals how this process has resulted in the construction of new actorsand environmental perceptions in the industry, a new technological selection milieu, and the building of new competencies withinthe enterprises and their network. The study presents evidence for the industry’s enhanced environmental capability, but it alsoidentifies closures, which may not converge with a plea for more radical environmental improvements. 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:Ecological modernisation; Environmental regulation; Institutional transformation; Textile industry; Environmental innovation

1. Introduction

This paper examines the transformation of environ-mental regulation, institutional settings and practices,and the corresponding corporate reflection and behaviourin the Danish textile finishing industry.

Local licensing and control have traditionally regu-lated the textile finishing industry, but in recent years(1990 and onward) the industry has been subject to newenvironmental regulatory schemes and programs. Newstrategies and instruments have been tested in an inter-active process with the industry.

Technology programs have generated new techno-logies and products serving the means for corporate tran-sition towards cleaner production. In addition, new com-petencies have developed among businesses and theirnetworks, shaping their capability to adopt technologicalinnovations in response to environmental and ecologicaldemands. Thus, during this process, a number of corpor-

∗ Corresponding author. Tel.:+45 4674 2636; fax:+45 4674 3041.E-mail addresses:[email protected] (B. Sønderga˚rd); [email protected]

(O.E. Hansen); [email protected] (J. Holm).

0959-6526/$ - see front matter 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.doi:10.1016/S0959-6526(03)00049-0

ate, R&D, and other actors have been formed whichinterpret, perform and diffuse ecological modernisationdiscourses.

The aim of this paper is to analyse the content of thistransformation focusing on how new institutional struc-tures and environmental perceptions have developedwithin the textile industry sector, and how these changeshave been interpreted and have influenced the environ-mental activities of the industry.

The analysis has a normative dimension. The processis observed and analysed with the aim of assessing theenvironmental scope of the modernisation process inorder to develop a better understanding of policy optionsfor the promotion of more environmentally friendly pro-duction schemes.

The study takes place at three levels. Atthe macrolevel, the process of ecological modernisation, whichdominated environmental and industrial policy inDenmark in the 1990s[1], is presented as the frameworkfor the specific transformations in the textile industry.The main components of this process have been asequence of programs and policy initiatives taken by theDanish Environmental Protection Agency (DEPA). Atthe meso level,the paper examines how these programs

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have been constructed and have supported specific insti-tutional and discursive formations, and (in a dynamicperspective) how systemic competencies and environ-mental perceptions have been produced within the insti-tutional technological and regulatory complexes of Dan-ish textile industry. The aim is to specify the resultantselective milieu that favours specific paths of technologi-cal development and environmental actions. Finally, atthe micro levelthe impacts of this milieu are studiedfrom a bottom-up perspective: Exploring how firmsoperating in networks and within specific strategicschemes reflect upon, interpret, and perform in responseto the environmental programs. The paper examines howenterprises have interacted with the programs, and howtheir practices have developed. This is studied in depthby the examination of the processes of two environmen-tal innovation projects within two textile enterprises.1

The paper is divided into six sections: 1) The theoreti-cal framework of the analysis of institutional transform-ations, 2) The methodology, 3) The development of thenational policy framework, 4) A presentation of the Dan-ish textile industry and the case enterprises, 5) An analy-sis of enterprise practices reflecting environmental pro-grams and institutional transitions, 6) Discussion aboutand conclusion on the scope and limits of the specificinstitutional transformation of the Danish textile indus-try.

2. Theoretical perspective

2.1. Ecological modernisation and institutionalreflexivity

In our study of the Danish textile industry, we drawon the analytical perspective of ecological modernis-ation—and in particular the concept of institutionalreflexivity [2–4]. The basic claim of ecological modern-isation is that modern society possesses a capability tocarry through an institutional reflexivity and to build acapacity in society enabling it to handle its ecologicalcrisis. Problems of modernisation are conceived to behandled via the development of institutions, the buildingof environmental enlightenment and capacities amongcorporations and consumers.

Ecological modernisation refers to both a prescriptiveand an analytical approach. On the one hand, it is per-ceived as specific changes in the structural and insti-tutional conditions of production [2]. Mol [5, p. 46–47]

1 The study has been part of a joint project Towards an Integrationof Environmental and Ecology-oriented Technology Policy. Stimulusand Response in Environment Related Innovation Networks(ENVINNO) funded by the Target Socio-economic Research Program,EU. The project includes partners from Austria, Denmark, Spain, Ger-many, the Netherlands and the UK.

identifies five main areas of structural transformationsthat have enhanced the capability to cope with the eco-logical crisis:

1. The changed role of science and technology, nowintegrated in proactive schemes,

2. Increased involvement of economic and marketdynamics and economic agents,

3. Changes in state-industry relations—the changed roleof regulation,

4. Changed discursive practices with reference to sus-tainability, and

5. The modification of the position, role and ideology ofsocial movements.

On the other hand, the ecological modernisationapproach is a certain way of conceiving environmentalproblems and societal responses, represented by Mol’s[2] research program concerning the development ofinstitutional reflexivity: the historical transformation ofinstitutions and social practices. In this context, we payspecial attention to the ‘cultural dimension’ to emphasisethe importance of those discursive processes in whichspecific ways of perceiving and communicating ‘ theenvironment’ are given preference based on discoursecoalitions and fights [6]. However, the transformation ofstructural conditions in terms of capacity building inindustries is also addressed.

Changes in the handling of environmental problemswithin an industry (or other settings) are viewed as aninstitutional reflexivity process [2,4,7]. According toBeck, it is a process in which modern society and itsinstitutions attach specific meaning to the environmentalproblems and build up a capability to reflect on the socialconditions (and on their existence) and to change themaccordingly [8].

This places the focus on how the environment is per-ceived, how it is communicated, on which agents areinvolved and how different agents reflect, act, and com-municate environmentally. It is a central feature of thisunderstanding that in these reflexive processes both theinstitutions and ways of reflection are changed. There isa change in the role and relations of firms, industries,government and agents (such as NGO’s). Ecologicalmodernisation entails that they become free of structure;in fact they have to redefine structure [5, 8, p.176]. Howenterprises in specific industrial settings reflect and inter-pret their role—and as part of this, whom they define ascentral stakeholders—becomes a central issue. It is thisprocess of institutional reflexivity, as it is developed andinstalled in the Danish textile industry over time, andthe outcome of the process, which is to be analysed.

In this ‘open question’ we agree with Buttel’s [7]understanding of the research program of the ecologicalmodernisation. He notes a first generation of ecologicalmodernisation research bodies which were based on the

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claim that ‘capitalist liberal democracy has the insti-tutional capacity to reform its impact on the naturalenvironment, and that one can predict that the furtherdevelopment (‘modernisation’ ) of capitalist liberaldemocracy would tend to result in improvement in eco-logical outcome’ [7, p. 59]. This closed approach is now,he observes, transformed into a new generation ofresearch working on ‘ identifying the specific socio-polit-ical processes through which the further modernisationof capitalist liberal democracies leads to (or block) ben-eficial ecological outcomes’ [7, p. 59].

Within this framework of ecological modernisation,the institutions of market and science are not a prioriascribed a reflexive capability enabling them to meet thechallenges of the ecological crisis. On the contrary, wecontest such a ‘ teleological interpretation’ , and relate tothe general discussion about reflexive modernisation(Giddens, Beck & Lash [9]), where the outcome of anysuch processes is seen as open.

2.2. Institutional transformation and strategicinterpretation

On the most general level, Berger and Luckmanndefine institutions as ‘ the rules, i.e. predefined patternsof conduct, that the members of a social group have gen-erally accepted’ [10]. In an evolutionary and institutionalperspective institutions influence innovative changes asa stable frame for technological change, but at the sametime produce path dependencies [11]. In this perspectiveecological modernisation is understood as an insti-tutional transformation and learning process.

A main aim of our study is to analyse how theenterprise, as a focal agent embedded in networks andstrategic schemes, interprets and acts in relation toenvironmental problems. Thus, the interplay betweenenterprises and institutional frameworks is understood asbeing contingent, leaving scope for enterprises tomanoeuvre.

From the enterprises point of view, the path of techno-logical development and the level of integration ofenvironmental concern that is chosen can be seen asdependent upon strategic interpretation, internalresources and competencies and the network, in whichthe enterprise is embedded [12].

The enterprise network consists of the relationsbetween the enterprise and its external customers, sup-pliers, knowledge institutions, authorities, and insti-tutions of civil society. From an analytical point of view,we may differentiate [13] between the business network(primarily related to the value system), the regulatorynetwork, and the knowledge network as three differentcommunicative systems in which the enterprises areembedded. The problem arises, e.g. when demands com-municated in the regulatory network (grounded onenvironmental considerations) clash with the values,

strategies and perceptions of the enterprises and theirbusiness or knowledge networks.

In this process of strategic interpretation, environmen-tal programs may well provide systemic resources (e.g.technology push schemes), but how the enterprisesattach to the programs will depend on their strategicinterpretations. Studies of these interactive processes,where enterprises co-shape the programs by their spe-cific ways of relating to them, are needed to grasp theprocesses of institutional transformation and to under-stand the outcome of these processes. Institutions andnetwork relations provide structural horizons and areproduced as structural horizons in this process.

3. Methodology

The developments within the Danish textile industryare studied as a historical, reflexive process wherechanges in national environmental policy schemes andprograms, industry specific program activities andenvironmental practices, and corporate strategic behav-iour in an interactive process form an institutional trans-formation and learning process.

Interviews with key actors in the textile industry, inthe knowledge and regulatory networks, and a numberof internal DEPA (Danish Environmental ProtectionAgency) evaluation studies of the cleaner technologyprograms have provided an initial reconstruction of thehistorical reflexive process. Four subsequent stages ofregulatory schemes or paths are identified: permits andcontrol, cleaner technology, environmental managementsystems, and product oriented program approaches.

Two enterprises were selected for in depth studies.The main selection criteria were that the enterprises hadbeen involved in the program activities of DEPA andthat they had initiated and concluded an environmentalinnovation project. The research expectations being thata detailed process tracing of the environmental inno-vation project would provide an understanding ofenvironmental perception and resources of theenterprise. These two studies were used to achieve a bot-tom-up understanding of how the institutional changeshave staged the transformation of parts of the Danishindustry. The bottom-up studies give us a more detailedunderstanding of a) how environmental demands arecommunicated, interpreted and turned into practices inenterprises, and b) the processes of learning and reflec-tions within the industry.

The studies make visible the capacity building that hasbeen accomplished both at an institutional level and atenterprise level. Capacity building is analysed histori-cally along the four identified paths of regulatory andinstitutional set-ups, which have formed a cumulativeprocess. Within each of these paths we seek to explorethe forming of new actors and new constellations of

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actors, the construction of specific technological devel-opment tracks, the generation of competencies within theknowledge network and among the enterprises, and theshaping of new environmental discourses.

4. Environmental policy development andindustry–the national framework

The ecological modernisation processes in the textileindustry take place within a process of changes innational policy schemes, discourses, and programs onenvironmental protection and improvement [14–20].

During the years 1974–1995, the dominant measuresintroduced into Denmark’s environmental protection toregulate industry were those of issuing legally bindinglicenses and permits which were subsequently controlledby local inspectors. The implementation of legislationhas taken place at two tempi: in close co-operation withindustrial and agriculture associations, the Ministry ofthe Environment has had the role of producing generalguidelines and thresholds for the control, servicing andissuing of permits among the local authorities. Secondly,the local authorities have been obliged to make targetsfor local ambient quality and neighbour nuisances.Optional guidelines and thresholds of the ambient qual-ity approach were in principal based on mapping anddeciding specific environmental aims for the ambientquality of a specific recipient (city, stream, lake), andtherefore differing from recipient to recipient. Againstthis background the local authorities were supposed toissue pollution permits, to give wastewater licences, con-trol industry and agriculture, ensure nature preservation,draw wastewater plans and build solid waste sites andwastewater utilities. The technological spin-offs from theambient quality strategy were diverse dilution techniqueswhile no requirements were made on the internal pro-cesses or products within the industry. For industry, theinstitutional set-up has typically resulted in rejectionstrategies or simple paying-the-bill attitudes. In the longrun, they have been misled to expand until they hit theceiling of the Ambient Environmental Quality (AEQ)quota.

The regulation of industry, only with reference toambient environmental quality standards, resulted in anaccumulation of the ecological pressures. This has ledto supplementary regulation since late 1970s, whichfocussed on the pollutant infrastructure and end-of-linesolutions (filters, wastewater treatment units, inciner-ation, and separation of hazardous waste). The end-of-line solutions were reflected in new emission standardsfocussing on effluents from chimneys and pipelines. Dueto a comprehensive Plan for Aquatic Environment in1987 municipalities invested approximately 1 billionEuro in biological and mechanical wastewater treatmentplants over a 10 year period to fulfil the general manda-

tory guidelines for organic effluents (on N, P, and Bio-logical Oxygen Demand (BOD)). The Plan for AquaticEnvironment was related to problems from regional andnational eutrophication in the mid-1980s, stemming fromdiffusion of organic substances from industrial pointsources, agriculture and public sewage treatment plants.Also all larger industries with direct outlets to fjords andbays were faced with new emission standards. Whereasthe smaller industries were obliged to link up to publicwastewater treatment plants and pay taxes related to theamount and type of discharges. The capacity of the was-tewater treatment plants thus became an intermediatevariable for the corporate individual standards onorganic substances. Other pollutant handling infrastruc-tures were also faced with standards on emissions anddeposits, which were passed on to their subcontractors.Instead of solely recipient assessments, the emissionstandards placed a focus on amounts, toxicity, diffusion,and exposure.

Through these emission standards and the establish-ment of pollutant handling infrastructure, industry learntthat the use of external solutions to their waste problemsmeant that no liability could be imposed on the polluter.Environmental protection was still an add-on cost, alsofor the public in the form of tax-paid municipal treatmentplants and subsidised industry. By that time the waste-handling infrastructure produced problem shifting as newmedia suffered from the pollution from incineration,wastewater sludge and recycled composite.

From mid 1980s the institutional learning on problemshifting spurred measures to re-internalise environmentalconcerns by economic incentives and the discursive con-stellation of regulatory ideas beyond legal rules began.Thus it is in this period that the discourse on ecologicalmodernisation, cleaner technology and pollution preven-tion was forwarded to integrate environmental concerninto business portfolios.

The first genuine effort towards technology innovationwas initiated by DEPA’s 1986 R&D program for sub-sidising research and development aimed at producingnew cleaner/Best Available Technologies. The cleanertechnology programs (CT-programs) served to fosterinnovations among firms and the Danish technologicalR&D institutions, and to demonstrate for authorities andindustries the available options for pollution prevention.The programme has been administered within a corpor-ate management regime, where industries and R&Dinstitutions could put forward their own preferences. Avast number of reports have been made from varioustrades, relating to various kinds of environmental andtechnological foci. In the first generation of CT programs(1986–1992), the focus was on a policy for R&D in apush for new technological inventions in individual firmsto reduce hazardous emissions and waste from industrialprocesses. Very often the subsequent diffusion of thedeveloped, available, technologies was not taking place.


The second generation of CT programs introduced in the1990s focussed on generating an in-house corporate pullfor cleaner technologies, accordingly initiating environ-mental management, green accounting, and competencebuilding among management staff. The third generationof CT programs has shifted towards generating a marketpull for cleaner products within a LCA perspective. Theareas receiving support include innovative research intechnology and product design, networking and bench-marking activities for product standards, and competencebuilding. The programs gave priority to three focusareas: electronics, goods transport and textiles.

Along with the CT programs the environmental auth-orities in their handling of the enterprises introduced adifferentiation among companies as to frontrunners,compliance oriented and reluctant. A command-and-control line was favoured for the latter, whereas serviceand routine control were prescribed for the complianceoriented. But it was among the frontrunners, or “want-to-bees” , that central, local and regional authorities havemet new challenges, to support an environmental corpor-ate management regime. These firms have served assparring partners for R&D, for developing new cleanertechnologies, for designing new cleaner technology sub-vention schemes, lobbying on product standards inCEN/ISO, and for enforcing environmental regulationon competitors.

In the third generation a major focus on the role ofgreen consumerism as a motor for changing markets hasbeen given priority. These market-pull-oriented initiat-ives, which also cover the product program, reflect aneffort to initiate market dynamics where green con-sumerism and green purchasing by public institutionsand corporate front-runners are supposed to be anefficient alternative to command-and-control. The pro-duct orientation of Danish environmental policy therebystresses the enhancement of environmental communi-cation and profiling between industries, retailers andconsumers.

5. Environmental programs and the textile industry

5.1. The Danish textile industry

Global market restructuring forced the Danish textileindustry to undertake major structural changes in the1990s. In the period 1990–2001, employment went downfrom 22,500 to 11,400, while turnover in 2001 priceswent from approximately 13 to 28.9 Mia. DKr andexport rose from 9.7 to 21.6 Mia DKr. [21,22]. Thisreflects that the business has turned to concentrate onhigh value-added activities, such as design, marketing,and franchising, and on specialised product niches (e.g.technical textiles). The labour-intensive sewing pro-cesses have been out-sourced, primarily to Eastern Eur-

ope. Finishing processes are still, for reasons of qualitymanagement, operated in Denmark for approximately30% of the turnover [21]. In textile printing, however,the production is narrowed down to short runs and spe-cial deliveries.

5.1.1. Environmental strategiesEnvironmental upgrading of the industry has been part

of this repositioning process. Within a framework set outby the Ministry of Trade and Industry in 1994 the indus-try elaborated ‘a strategy and framework program of thedevelopment of the industry’ [23]. The program pin-pointed the development of marketing competencies,organisation and management, networks and high flexi-bility as being the main issues. And in particular, itpointed to the need for a greater effort in product devel-opment and innovation. It recommended a greater focuson design and on the development of specialised pro-ducts and niche products that met a growing environ-mental and quality awareness of the consumer.Developing environmental qualities was identified by theindustry as one way to evade fierce price competition,and was communicated by the branch organisation(DTB - Dansk Tekstil & Beklaedning) of the textileindustry as a potential strategic parameter in the trans-formation process. In this way, the branch organisationhas adopted a strategy designating green modernisationas one option for the textile industry. They activelyengaged in the development and implementation of theenvironmental programs and thereby they took a corpor-ate approach, seeking consensus on the programs. Withinthis framework a minor part of the industry has adoptedgreen strategies based on ecological design and highenvironmental performance.

5.1.2. Environmental regulatory programsThe textile industry, and in particular the wet pro-

cessing finishing industry, has been a priority concernof cleaner technology programs and local environmentalregulation schemes in Denmark. In the printing and fin-ishing processes the cloth passes through a number ofchemical processes to enhance appearance, durability,and serviceability of the end product. These wet pro-cesses result in a high consumption of water and in wastegeneration and emissions of chemicals. In addition dry-ing furnaces and mechanical finishing entail a high con-sumption of energy.

The main emissions from the textile printing industryoriginate from pigments, acrylates and conditioners usedin the printing paste. The wastewater is generated duringoperation of the printing machine and cleaning of rollerswhen new runs are prepared. The main environmentalproblems of the discharged wastewater from printing arerelated to the chemical oxygen demand (COD) of the


suspended material and toxic effects of chemicals2

[24,25].In parallel to the described national policy schemes,

four main paths (regulatory schemes) can be identifiedwithin the textile industry, representing a gradual andcumulative expansion of the scope of the environmentalpolicy programs: 1. Permits and control, 2. Cleaner tech-nology, 3. Environmental management systems, and 4.Product oriented approach. The development from com-mand and control to a more reflexive approach can beperceived as cumulative. The system of permits and con-trol still forms the backbone of the environmental regu-lation, but in the attempt to induce innovative dynamics,new approaches have been developed. In this process,specific ways of reflecting and acting on the environ-mental problems have been produced in the textile indus-try in an interactive institutional learning process.

5.2. Co-development of enterprise practices andinstitutional transformations

Two cases of co-development of enterprise responsesand institutional transformations have been studied[26,27]. The objective was to examine a) how theenterprises have developed their environmentalresources and competencies, and b) how they haveresponded and reflected on the institutional settingsdeveloped through the program activities (within thefour different regulatory set-ups) described above. Thedecision processes of two innovation projects were stud-ied in detail, to obtain a more profound understandingof the social practices of the enterprises.

The two enterprises, Sodahl Design (SD) and DanishColour Design (DCD), have both been environmentalresponsive, but they have related to the programs in dif-ferent ways. This exposes different dynamics in theinteraction of enterprises with the programs and providesa contextual knowledge of the institutional transform-ation and learning process of the textile industry.

2 The EU eco-labelling system (Commission Decision1999/178/EC) identifies the main environmental performance indi-cators of textile printing and dyeing:

� demands on heavy metal impurities� stability and process demands when Cu, Ni and Cr metal based

complex dyes are used� ban on a azo-dyes (based on how they decompose in aromatic

amines)� ban on a shortlist of carcinogenic, mutagenic and toxic to repro-

duction dye-stuffs� stability (colour fastness) demands on potential sensitising dyes

(skin allergy reactions)� use of VOC must be below 5% in the printing paste� limits of the amount of free formaldehyde in the final fabrics.

In addition they abandon a number of fabric softener and complexingagents, such as EDTA (ethylene diamine tetra acetate)

As important, however, is that the case studies provideknowledge on the creation of resources and com-petencies in the enterprises enabling them to engage ina green modernisation process, giving evidence of theproduction of distributed capabilities.

5.3. Business characteristics of the enterprises

Sodahl Design (SD) (approximately 100 employees)produces household textiles. The Sodahl Design’s pro-duction site covers all stages in turning bleached wovencotton into finished consumer goods; including printing,finishing, cutting, sewing, packaging and marketing. Itproduces specially designed collections, marketed asbrand goods. Two thirds of the production is exported,with Scandinavia, Germany and UK as the mostimportant markets.

Danish Colour Design (DCD) (approximately 30employees) is a 100% order based subcontracting textileprinter. It markets printing and finishing of wovenmaterials of cotton and synthetic fibre for final goodsproducers. British, German and Danish contractorsdominate. In recent years, DCD has experienced fiercecompetition on standard printing deliveries.

DCD is a subcontractor to Novotex (approximately 80employees) which produces clothes and linen within agreen concept (“Green cotton” ). Most of the processes,including printing, are out-sourced. The activities at theplant in Jutland are primarily related to design, purchase,logistics, and marketing—95% of the products isexported, primarily to Germany. The management of theenterprise has deliberately sought a position as a stra-tegic actor in the product chain with the perspective topractice an integrated chain management based on LCA.They have actively sought partnerships in the industrybased on their “Green cotton “ concept.

The three enterprises are situated in Mid-Jutland (SDand DCD in the same municipality) in a region withnumerous textile enterprises, forming a specializedindustrial textile network. They can be considered asenvironmental frontrunners; Novotex and SD are ISO14001 and EMAS certified, DCD is ISO 14000 certified,and Novotex and DCD have achieved the standard forthe EU eco-label and the Nordic Swan on part of theirproducts.

6. Enterprise practices reflecting institutionaltransitions—elements in an institutional learningprocess

6.1. Environmental permits and control

Following the Environmental Protection Act of 1974,environmental permits were made mandatory for the tex-tile wet processing industry. The permits covered the


handling of toxic substances, nuisance and air emissions.Within this framework, practices have emerged whichinstituted specific ways of perceiving and handlingenvironmental problems.

An example of such instituted practices is the ‘scoresystem’ (designed to assess environmental performanceof the chemicals used in the textile industry) which weredeveloped by the regional environmental authorities inthe county of Ringkjoebing. The main concern was theenvironmental impact of the discharge of wastewaterfrom the industry on aquatic recipients. In collaborationwith VandKvalitetsInstituttet (VKI) (Research Institutespecialised in water quality), the county forwarded a pro-posal of a score system to the industry, anticipating thatthe system should be used to assess existing and futurechemicals used by the textile industry. The industry wentinto the project realising the advantages of a commonfoundation of the process to assess and communicateenvironmental qualities of the chemicals. As a result,DTB adopted the system and took the responsibility todevelop a common database that enabled them to elabor-ate score reports to their member enterprises. Theenterprises were obliged to forward ‘a score report’ tothe environmental authorities in the counties or themunicipalities every half year.

‘The score reports’ enabled the enterprise and theauthorities to identify the most problematic chemicalswithin a common framework. The reports in this wayestablished a starting point for negotiations between theenterprise and the authorities to prioritise the effort insubstituting or reducing the use of chemicals.

The wastewater handling system in the Danish textileindustry has to a great extent been based on public sew-age treatment works run by the municipalities; only aminor fraction of the industry runs private wastewatertreatment plants. Wastewater has been regulated separ-ately under special licenses and fee systems. The munici-palities are responsible for issuing licenses and con-trolling the manufacturers that emit to public sewagetreatment works, whereas the counties are responsiblefor controlling the operations of the public works run bythe municipalities and of production sites that emit directto the recipients.

The Aquatic Water Plan of 1987 (see section 5)instructed all municipalities to install or expand biologi-cal wastewater treatment to cleanse organic spills fromdirect emittants to recipients. With the plan new emis-sion thresholds were imposed on public treatment works,surpassing new performance demands to industrial emit-tants. Based on this approach, the load of organic sub-stances to the water treatment plants (e.g. level of Bio-logical Oxygen Demand (BOD) or Chemical OxygenDemand (COD)) became a main issue in wastewaterregulation in general and in the regulation of textile wetprocessing industries.

The sludge produced in the sewage treatment works

was initially diffused on crop fields as fertilisers. Thesludge was monitored to keep track of harmful sub-stances; in particular, heavy metals were subject to con-trol. In the first half of the 1990s, this practice was criti-cised by the farmers’ organisations, raising the concernthat the impurities could be taken up in crops. As aresult, a new statuary order enforced the municipalitiesto keep the content of heavy metals and four ‘ indicatorcompounds’ within new lower limits. Confronted withthese demands, many municipalities chose to abandonthe reuse of the sludge as fertiliser; instead the sludgewas deposited or incinerated. The (ironic) outcome, inrelation to the textile industry (and other industries), isthat the new handling schemes for the sludge, in thisway, reduced the system’s built-in stimuli to eliminateharmful substances from their wastewater discharge.

National guidelines on environmental permit issuingrequired, since 1991, that a cleaner technology actionprogram was elaborated and made an integrated part ofthe enterprises environmental permit to ensure that bestavailable technologies were implemented. As part of thisregulatory scheme, it was anticipated that DEPA shouldissue industry-targeted recommendations(Brancheorienteringer) to be used as reference for BestAvailable Technology (BAT) demands. The agency,however, in most industries has failed to elaborate suchrecommendations (with the IPPC Directive (IntegratedPrevention and Pollution Control, 1997), BAT-noteselaborated at the EU level are going to replace them).This has been the case in the textile industry too. Thecleaner technology program (see section 6.2) did con-tribute documentation of best practices, but although abranch profile describing best practises has been drafted,a recommendation (Brancheorientering) has never beenissued. Therefore, the process of defining cleaner tech-nology schemes as part of the permits within the textileindustry has been a decentralised task of the countiesand municipalities, leading to a weak implementation.

Within the permit and control scheme specific waysof communicating environmental problems have beeninstitutionalised; bound to institutions as the score sys-tem and to the specific infrastructural set-up (the waste-water handling system). While others, such as the cle-aner technology options were not systematically madepart of social practices by the authorities.

6.1.1. Enterprise reactive responses andenvironmental communications in the permit controlset-up.

Although shifts in environmental practices of theindustry were driven by demands in the environmentalpermits and the wastewater licenses, the enterprises, intheir interaction with these demands gradually changedin their environmental capabilities, strategies and aware-ness. Proactive approaches became favorable.

During the re-negotiation of their permit (1989–1990),


DCD was met with a number of strict demands fromlocal authorities. Confronted with potential high com-pliance costs DCD began to implement cleaner tech-nology options. This approach led to changes in environ-mental competencies of the enterprise.

The efforts to reduce water consumption give anexample on the changes in approach and enterprisecapacity. Initially, the reduction was based on the elimin-ation of over-consumption (‘good housekeeping’ ). Latermost of the reduction was achieved by introducing re-circulation schemes (rinse water from the last flushes ofthe rollers—and feeding systems—were reused in thefirst part of the rinsing process) developed within thecleaner technology program in ‘ the resources-project’[28]. DCD was engaged in this project and developedtheir knowledge on re-circulation technologies. Both atDCD and SD water saving was integrated in plant oper-ation, and substantial reductions in consumption of water(and wastewater discharge) were achieved (e.g. 1994–1998 SD raised eco-efficiency on water by a factor offour).

These processes, however, construed specific paths.The local regulation was water recipient orientated andthe management of water consumption, wastewater andto some extent substitution of hazardous chemicals wastheir main concern. Cleaner technology schemes wereseen in a win–win-perspective on costs (e.g. pay backtime on water sawing technologies at the textile printerswere very low). Within these codes ‘a water saving tra-jectory’ developed in the industry. The drawback of this‘water saving trajectory’ was that the amount of chemi-cals discharged was not reduced accordingly.

The ‘Score System’ helped to introduce a more radicalcommunication, shifting the focus to the bio-degrad-ability, bioaccumulation, and harmfulness to the waste-water treatment. This has been integrated in the environ-mental work of SD and DCD and has resulted in agradual substitution of chemicals with high scores(indicating environmental problems) at both enterprises.

Regulation thus provided an important driver for cle-aner technology. However, the ‘permit institution’ pushon cleaner technology experienced by the enterpriseswas indirectly, as it was communicated in thresholdvalues on emissions and wastewater. More directdemands have proved to be difficult. In the renewal ofSD’s permit (1996), the municipality noticed SD’s workon cleaner technology (the Memtex project, see section6.2), but refrained from making it part of the conditionsof the permit. Information asymmetries and risk of ‘pick-ing a loser’ put limitations on the use of permit practicesin relation to the adoption of cleaner technology.

6.2. The cleaner technology programs targeted at thetextile industry

In 1990, the textile industry was included in thesecond Cleaner Technology (CT) program of DEPA

[29]. Prior to this program, the specialised textile knowl-edge centre within the national technological service sys-tem (DTI-BT), had conducted explorative studies sur-veying the environmental impact of the industry andexamining possible solution [30]. The study identifiedwet processing (dyeing, printing and finishing processes)as the environmentally most crucial processes to address.To some extent, these studies defined the agenda of thesubsequent programs, pointing to the development oftechnical process oriented solutions related to waste-water problems from wet processing as the strategicfocus [31].

The cleaner technology activities were gatheredwithin a third CT textile program, 1993–1997 [32]. Theprogram was established in a consensus process; andbranch organisations and other stakeholders had beengiven substantial influence over the implementation ofthe program. DTB, the branch organisation, was a veryactive player, both in this program and in the regulat-ory work.

One result of this co-operation was the settling of pro-gram objectives. The goals again gave priority to wetprocessing. They were summarised in four points:

1. Reduction of wastewater discharges with 30% beforeyear 2000,

2. Reduction of the number of chemicals in the industryinjurious (or suspected to be) to health or environ-mentally damaging,

3. Improvement of environmentally problematic pro-cesses and equipment,

4. And finally, reduction in energy consumption [32].

The Framework Program and the consensus obtained inthe industry enabled a focussed and consistentimplementation, but it also installed dominant path ofenvironmental technology.

Until 1997 the CT programs within the textile industryfunded 25 projects for a total of 3.5 million Euro. Thefirst initiative was a comprehensive study of technologi-cal options concerning ‘ Integrated process layoutobtaining maximum re-circulation of process water—inparticular in enterprises with textile dying in batches’(DANTEX, start 1992, funding 650,000 Euro) [33]. Inthe subsequent years (1991–1994) a number of special-ised cleaner technology projects were initiated, most ofthem focussing on wastewater, examining technologieswhich enabled reuse of process water, chemicals andenergy and on the development of programs and receiptswith low environmental impact [28,34]. One of theseprojects, the MEMTEX-project (see section 6.2.1.1)tested membrane filtering of process water from textilewet processing [35].

The content of the projects was highly influenced bya group of knowledge centres. As described above, DTI-BT had been responsible for the elaboration of the first


study, in which wet processing and process and tech-nology development towards wastewater problems weredesignated as the main tracks of development. This strat-egy was adopted by the industry as a whole and by thenational environmental agency, DEPA. Subsequently,two other knowledge centres were involved. The Insti-tute of Product Development (IPU), a research and con-sultant centre rooted in the Technical University ofDenmark, was involved due to its technical competenceon industrial processes and integrated water treatmenttechniques. Furthermore, the Water Quality Institute(VKI), a research and consultant centre rooted in thenational technical service system, was drawn in to takeadvantage of its specialised knowledge on toxicity andwater treatment processes. These three institutes formedthe backbone of agents and knowledge institutions in thecleaner technology program targeted at the textile indus-try, and they developed a dominant knowledge network,which took the initiative to develop projects, took partin the decision process of the program and executed theprojects. Consequently, they obtained a position thatenabled them to ensure a consistent process of develop-ment, directed by the environmental perception orig-inally laid down in the Framework Program. In addition,this construction ensured a systemic competence thatcould be used by the industry. However, the strength ofthe construction was also its main weakness. It rep-resented a closure, in terms of actors and options thathad access to the program and it introduced the problemof transferring ownership of the developed technologyfrom the knowledge institutions to the enterprises [31].

The program consolidated a technology and pro-duction oriented approach. The central part of the pro-gram concentrated on development of technical solutionsin terms of better processes and technical plants for treat-ment and re-circulation of wastewater. Some projectshave supported substitution and LCA schemes, but eventhese parts of the program have been very ‘ technique-oriented’ .

Within the wastewater and technology oriented trackthe CT-programs in the textile industry resulted in animportant environmental capacity building in terms oftechnological options and competence in the knowledgenetwork (systemic level) and among a shallow layer offrontrunner enterprises. The CT program demonstratedand documented a number of potential technologies, butin most cases the diffusion of the new concepts has beenlimited. Membrane filtering of process-water in reactivedyeing was demonstrated to be an economic and techno-logical feasible technology in the CT- program [35], butno diffusion of the technology has taken place (IPU,interview 1999, Miljøstyrelsen, interview 2000).

6.2.1. The cleaner technology program—twointerpretations and reflexive responses within thetextile industry

The cleaner technology programs were designed astechnology push instruments: technological options and

systemic competencies in term of strong actors knittedtogether in a knowledge network were the immediateachievements of the programs. New actors and com-petencies were institutionalised at a systemic level. Thequestion is how the enterprises’ environmental percep-tions, competencies, and technology paths have changeddue to the programs. Two examples of interaction withthe programs are examined: the implementation of themembrane project (MEMTEX) at SD and the program’srelations to the DCD-Novotex vertical.

6.2.1.1. The membrane project (MEMTEX)—interpretedwithin local regulation and SD’s business strategy hor-izons In ‘ the DANTEX project’ [33] IPU had demon-strated that the membrane technology offered a techni-cally and environmentally functional, and alsoeconomically feasible, technology to handle wastewaterfrom reactive dyeing of cotton. Based on these experi-ences IPU, together with environmentally activeenterprises, fostered the idea of testing these results on abroader array of process water within the textile industry(MEMTEX project, initiated 1994). This included a pilotproject at Sodahl Design (SD).

When organising the project, IPU used the networkrelations established in the Dantex project (VKI andDTI-BT, see section 6.2) extended with experts on mem-brane filtering. The Memtex-project was in this wayrooted in national networks covering membrane tech-nology and national wastewater competencies.

Pilot-tests revealed that the membrane technology wasnot readily adaptable to Sodahl’s production. To rinsethe textile printing wastewater to process water qualityenabling reuse, a special membrane module had to beintroduced and it was necessary to add a pre-rinsing stepand a final nano-filtration. However, the membrane tech-nology was brought to function in this modified con-cept [35].

Membrane filtering could have been seen as a keytechnology enabling Sodahl Design to control and man-age a main component of their environmental perform-ance.3 But SD perceived the membrane filtration to bea failure. They closed the project and chose another sol-ution—a traditional biological wastewater treatmentplant (1997), designed to meet COD content demands(and reduce fees) imposed by the public sewage treat-ment works.

SD’s abandonment of the membrane option was inpart a result of the institutional set up of the cleaner

3 The membrane filtering offered high environmental improve-ments. The process water from the operation of the printing machineand from the rinsing processes was to be filtered, resulting in a separ-ation in a clean fraction (the permeat) and a fraction where the sus-pended material is concentrated (the concentrate). The permeat can—depending on the filter techniques that are used—be of high qualityand be recirculated ‘as clean water’ in the process. The consumptionof water and wastewater discharges could be reduced 80% if the tech-nology were successfully implemented (Miljøstyrelsen [31]).


technology program, in part a result of the strategicinterpretations of SD. From the perspective of SD, theirparticipation in the MEMTEX-project was part of asearch of possible technological options to their waste-water problem. But the project was not a result of asearch strategy structured by SD’s routines and networksor by the specific problem of their production. On thecontrary, the focus on membrane technology was theresult of previous search rounds, which had come to aclosure (identifying membrane technology as a promis-ing option) in the knowledge network. In this projectIPU wanted to test the limits of this technology.

The competence on membranes was centralised in theknowledge network. An IPU consultant, together withexpert consultants, ran the test runs. However, in partthe competence was passed to SD. SD’s environmentalco-ordinator operated the pilot plant and took part in theanalysis of the results. As a result he got hands-onexperience with the technology. In this way, the techni-cal competencies of the co-ordinator enabled Sodahl togain from the project in terms of an enhanced knowledgeon their wastewater.

If SD should have implemented the membrane tech-nology they would have needed to address expert knowl-edge of the ‘membrane network’ on commercial terms.It revealed a weakness in the set up of the membraneproject. A highly qualified know-how on membrane pro-cesses at a systemic level was build, but the transfer ofthe knowledge to the enterprise (the adaptation) was notincorporated. On the contrary, the price structure ofusing the consultants constituted a barrier making thesystemic knowledge difficult to access by small andmedium sized enterprises.

SD has adopted the environment as a strategic para-meter and they have related to ‘an eco-modernisationproject’ in the branch [26]. But this is perceived in a waythat reflects SD’s position in the market and businessnetworks. Elements such as eco-management, eco-label-ling and eco-design are all vital in relation to a ‘ life-style’ -market. But in relation to short-term decision onwastewater discharge, ‘ the eco-modernisation project’ isopen to interpretation. The formal elements, as the eco-management systems and the eco-labelling, allow formuch manoeuvring—EMAS define procedures, and therequirements of the EU flower are not too demanding.As a result, the problem of the wastewater was primarilydefined in relation to the perceptions forwarded in thelocal regulation.

The initiatives within the cleaner technology programoffered the perspective ‘ to establish recycling and reuseas close at the sources as possible’ . However, the projectwas seen by SD as a move to comply with publicdemands—it was not interpreted as a strategic innovativemove ahead of the demands presented in the regulatoryand business network. The membrane technology wasnot necessary to comply with the environmental

demands, as they were communicated from the environ-mental authorities. Investments in the development ofthe technology could not be justified in the regulatorydemands. The way the demands were communicated—focus on amount and COD, on a few heavy metals—didnot support a (more expensive and uncertain) solutionoffering an almost complete removal of the suspendedmaterial from the wastewater discharge from SD. Therewere not in the regulatory system produced a setting thatdefined that SD had to take responsibility (beyond theCOD demands) of the substances led to the wastewatersystem or the system of solid waste.

In a policy perspective, the outcome of the membraneproject at Sodahl can be interpreted as a mismatch inthe horizons communicated (or a mismatch in stimuli)from the Technology oriented Environmental Policy(TEP) (represented by the cleaner technology program)and the environmental policy (EP) (represented by thelocal regulation). The demands of the discharge licenceand the fee on discharge (related to COD-content) sig-nalled a much more limited agenda. In addition, the tech-nology, which was adequate to meet these demands, wasthe traditional treatment plant. From the perspective ofthe environmental regulation, the membrane technologywent far beyond what was needed to meet the demands.It became a ‘mismatched’ technology due to the environ-mental perception communicated in the environmentalpolicy system.

6.2.1.2. The Novotex vertical—Cleaner technology pro-gram reflected in an environmentally pioneering productchain Novotex’ demands on environmental perform-ance have played an important role in how Danish Col-our Design (DCD) has perceived its production andenvironmental work. The “green cotton ” project, seek-ing to produce environmentally friendly textiles in anLCA perspective, can be envisaged as a capacity build-ing process in the product chain. In the development of“green cotton ” as a business concept Novotex has suc-ceeded in engaging external partners, such as DCD, ininteractive learning processes. Novotex and its partnersin the development of environmental friendly technologyoptions have addressed public environmental and cleanertechnology programs. Over the years, the projects havechanged from exploring the basic environmental prob-lems related to the textile product chain to the problemsof developing integrated chain management in a LCAperspective. Projects have examined the integration ofEnvironmental Management Systems (EMS) and qualitymanagement systems [28,37] and environmental man-agement of suppliers [33].

6.2.1.3. Changes in technology paths and environmentalperceptions In their entrepreneurial endeavour, Novo-tex has been a key driver of environmental textile pro-duction in the Danish textile industry. The environmental


demands (and goals) of Novotex spurred their suppliersto engage in processes of environmental improvement.This has led to a layer of environmentally oriented textilesuppliers, which in turn has taken part in projects withinthe cleaner technology program.

In 1993 Novotex, as part of the implementation ofenvironmental management, passed on demands to DCDto substitute formaldehyde from fixation process ofprinted fabrics. Thus, the urge grew for DCD to changethis process, not only in order to avoid costly demandson monitoring airborne solvents required by local auth-orities, but also to be able join a new quality cluster andstabilise their sub-contracting relationship to Novotex.Novotex also used ‘ the score system’ in demandingenvironmental impact monitoring by their sub-suppliers;thus DCD was experiencing the business networks’ con-firmation that meeting the public demands wasimportant.

At the same time, Novotex requested DCD for a sub-stitution for heavy metals in the paste-colours, as theirGerman market demanded this environmental profile(see below).

Novotex’ ‘ green cotton ’ concept and their demandhas introduced a radical environmental perception,which DCD has used as a reference of their search fortechnological options. To some extent, DCD has madethis perception part of their environmental perception,and gradually the relation to Novotex has developed intoa mutual interactive learning process based on this com-mon platform. This has defined an ‘environmental trackof development’ .

The outcome, and overall environmentally innovativeachievement of DCD, has been a systematic environ-mental optimising of its dye-system and dyeing pro-cesses. A more distinct achievement has been the substi-tution of heavy metal in the printing dyes. DCD initiateda search for ‘heavy metal free’ dyes back in 1993—inspired by Novotex requests. They succeeded toimplement the new dye system, which enabled them tooffer a heavy metal free line of printing dyes (‘eco-tex’ ).

In the market, however, it was difficult for DCD totake advantage of the innovation. Besides the productionto Novotex, the use of DCD ‘eco-tex’ dye system onlyfound minor markets on children’s clothes in Swedenand Germany. The weak penetration of the market can-not be explained by price alone (3% higher than standarddye systems). Uncertainty on functionality and weakinstitutional support for green textile products seemed tobe important (see section 6.4.1).

6.3. Environmental management

Having experienced deficiencies in the technologypush paradigm, DEPA (the National Environmental Pro-tection Agency) and ADTI (the Agency for Develop-ment of Trade and Industry), made a joint effort to sup-

port the adoption of Environmental ManagementSystems (EMS) (1995–1997, funding totals 18 millionEuro. The purpose was to obtain the diffusion of greenpractise by means of competence building and initiationof environmental management schemes withinenterprises. The new scheme sought to enhance thecapacity of local corporate staff to monitor and docu-ment local environmental performance, and improve themanagement’s knowledge of material flow and ofenvironmental profile of local production.

Two thirds of the program was targeted to selectedindustries. Within the textile industry DTB (the branchorganisation) was given responsibility of implementingthe program.

To support diffusion and adoption of EMS, a privateconsultant was hired to develop a branch specific manualof environmental management. This developmentalwork was rooted in a group of environmental proactivetextile enterprises, and resulted in the introduction ofEMS in most of these enterprises.

The enterprises were thus led into a reflexive position.They were encouraged to develop a basic knowledge oftheir environmental performance enabling them toengage in the subsequent programs of environmentaldocumentation and communication.

6.3.1. Environmental management systems—upgradingof local environmental competencies

SD implemented environmental management systemssupported by the local technological service system.Main results of the process were a higher degree of inte-gration of environmental aspects in the management sys-tem and a substantial rise in the level of control andknowledge of the process operations at the plant. Theintroduction of EMS was experienced as a win–winmove as it produced substantial savings enabled by moreoptimised operations and—at a subsequent stage—facili-tated the introduction of eco-labelling.

The LCA approach in the ‘green cotton ’ concept,combined with the outsourcing of most processes, hasmade the management of external relations to suppliersa strategic activity to Novotex. On top of their EMS,they, in 1994, initiated a development of an environmen-tal supply management system funded by a CT-program[36,38], which enabled them to perform an environmen-tal evaluation of their suppliers and to document theenvironmental performance of their products. The sys-tem was developed with the long-term ambition to sup-port an environmental product declaration scheme.

The certified EMS (EMAS/ISO 14000) has been usedas market strategic instruments, and the introduction hasstrengthened the environmental communication in theproduct chain. In addition, the competencies and expedi-encies gained in the introduction of EMS in theenterprises have been important preconditions to entereco-labelling projects.


6.4. The product oriented program

Following the evaluation of the CT-programs, a morestrategic and market oriented approach was introducedby the DEPA in 1996—formulated in the program ‘Areinforced product oriented environmental effort’ [39].The stated goal of the program was environmentalimprovements in a product life cycles perspective. Anintegration of this goal in the market was seen as a pre-requisite for obtaining more profound environmentalimprovement, and in general terms the strategicapproach of the program was to generate institutionalpreconditions of such an integration.

A main element of the program was the formation ofthree product panels designated to examine product-ori-ented strategies looking at design, marketing andenvironmental communication as main strategicelements [40].

One of these panels was formed in the textile industry.In its working program [41], the textile product panelhas focussed on the task to establish (systemic) com-petencies within the industry on ecological design. Themain activities within the textile product panel havebeen: a) development of ecological collections (eco-lab-elled with the EU-flower) in the industry, b) develop-ment of operational tools enabling actors in the textilechain to integrate and document ecological qualities inthe design and industrial purchasing functions, c) devel-opment of a knowledge centre on environmental docu-mentation (labelling)—financed by the textile branchorganisation (DTB), and d) development of an infor-mation strategy addressing actors in the textile industryand consumers. A common goal for the product panelmembers was to encourage Danish manufacturers of tex-tiles and clothes to achieve the EU flower or theNordic Swan.

The program marked a changed approach. Technologywas not considered as the main barrier to environmentalimprovements. Within the textile industry, the tech-nology options and resources available were seen as pro-viding ample scope of environmental improvements. Thebarriers were located in the behaviour of the players inthe industry and the way the environment had been per-ceived and communicated in the product chain. For thisreason the product-orientated program addressedchanges of the institutional framework, and focussed onthe development of new competencies both at the sys-temic level and at the individual enterprise:

� The development of chain and market oriented com-petencies. Program projects addressed such issues asbarriers against implementing eco-labelling, environ-mental supply management and economic assessmentof the production, purchase and sale of environmentalfriendly textiles.

� The development of instruments of environmental

documentation (Life Cycles Assessments, risk assess-ment, etc—dedicated instruments to industries andproduct groups) and the establishment of a knowledgecentre on the development and dissemination ofknowledge on environmental documentation andcommunication.

� The challenge of the individual firm was seen as amove from environmental management focussed onlocal eco-efficiency to LCA-management—involvingthe need of achieving new competencies on interac-tion with actors in the product chain and stakeholders.

These changes were, to some extent, general to theproduct-oriented program. Looking at the textile indus-try, the implementation of the program had been able toprofit of the achievements of the previous programs.

Research in technology options still took place, butproject funding shifted to the development of instru-ments to environmental documentation [42] and market-related instruments.

The actors that were addressed and given access tothe (discursive) processes of the environmental policyarena changed. The product program was characterisedby:

� Addressing strategic actors, such as retail chains,franchisers and industrial laundries, etc in the pro-duct chain

� Addressing strategic functions, such as design, pur-chase and product development, and focussing on anupgrading of their environmental competencies

� Addressing the chain, that is, addressing the develop-ment of co-ordinated action and relations between theactors in the product chain was made a priority goal.This was supported by the development of commonplatforms of communication, such as instruments ofenvironmental documentation. In this process, theproduct panel formed a formal institutional frame ofa co-ordinated action.

From the outset, the product panel (in the appointmentof members) addressed the environmental frontrunnersof the industry, but the initiatives of the panel have hada wider impact. When the product panel revealed its planof a joint launch of eco-labelled collections (October1999), the producers of the Danish industry showedgreat interest. As a result the launch of the eco-labelledcollections were postponed (to spring 2001) to enable awider group of actors in the textile industry to join theproject. The outcome of these initiatives is yet to beseen, but the eco-labelling move of the product panelhas inclined textile producers and the actors of the textilechain to reflect on strategic potentials of joining a projectof eco-labelled product design.

The way these new institutional settings were reflectedupon by the actors of the industry is crucial. The pro-


gram represents a deliberate attempt to combine thebuild up of systemic competencies in terms of resources(technologies and instruments) and environmental per-ceptions, and the empowerment of the actors in the tex-tile chain to fill a role in an environmental reflexive pro-cess. Left without mandatory instruments, the faith ofthe program relied on the practices of the players of theindustry, and how they may take up their roles as ecol-ogist modernisation agents.

It is an interrelated game—the way the players of theindustry reflect on the program produces a new settingof the industry. If the retail chains engage in the pro-gram, they may enforce changes all the way along theproduction chain. The importance of the practices of theactors was reinforced by the changed interactionbetween the environmental authorities and the players ofthe industry. As part of the modernisation process theenvironmental authorities have deliberately refrainedfrom taking a privileged position in the panel and relatedinstitutions; environmental action was now defined andprioritised in an interplay with the industry in a socio-political process—in an open ended process.

The product panel’s decision of making the ‘eco-labelling collection’ the strategic project may illustratethis. In choosing the EU flower as environmental refer-ence, the players of the industry have defined the levelof environmental ambition—and the direction of themodernisation process. This selective approach has beenguided by business strategic considerations—the EUflower label enhanced market opportunities and was seenas a stronger tool in environmental supply management.The involvement of the actors in the product chain andthe integration in business strategy has been the mainobjective—and the role of the public authorities has beento function as a moderator of this process.

6.4.1. The product oriented program and theconstruction of a market for ecological textiles

The product-oriented program introduced an LCAperspective integrated with market-oriented approachesas main new elements. Within this framework, the mem-bers of the corporate institution, the textile productpanel, strategically chose to focus on the build up ofsystemic competencies on LCA documentation and con-struction of an environmental market (the concertedintroduction of eco-labelled collections).

Both SD and Novotex are members of the productpanel (Novotex followed by SD has chaired the panel)and has staked in this new strategy. The enterprises thusrepresent a layer of actors that are ready to perceive LCAmanagement and eco-labelling as win–win situations ina market strategic perspective.

SD’s introduction of eco-labelled products can beenseen as a ‘ rational’ move considering SD’s position asan end product producer, marketing e.g. bedding textiles.In addition, the environmental improvements in previous

initiatives (CT and EMS) have made it possible for SDto meet the demands of the eco-labels (EU flower) with-out introducing major changes. The prime obstacleproved to be the documentation (including docu-mentation from suppliers) required having the productscertified. A major part of their internal environmentalwork has been focussed on the task of developing pro-cedures and competencies on the eco-label docu-mentation.

The LCA approach has been part of Novotex strategyduring the last decade. They have chaired the EU work-ing group on eco-labelling guidelines on T-shirts andlinen, which preceded guidelines on textiles. Equally,DCD had obtained a capacity to deliver printing that ful-fils the eco-labelling demands from Eco-Tex 100, theEU flower, and the Nordic Swan.

The product panel has led to a joint development ofinstruments of documentation of environmental perform-ance; the private program of Novotex (and SD) has beenturned into a shared environmental project of environ-mental communication. The program enabled the shap-ing of a corporate institution gathering the main greenactors of the product chain in a joint strategic project tostabilise paths of environmental development.

On the one hand, it represents an empowerment andincreased responsibility of the product chain actors. Onthe other hand, it may represent a closure based on mar-ket strategic considerations and ‘green consumers’ . Oneproblem is that the environmental demands of the EU-flower [25] on production fall behind the technologicalpotentials developed in the cleaner technology program.One example can be the heavy metal free dye system ofDCD—in this setting it is only partly turned into a stra-tegic advantage, as heavy metals are still allowed in theEU-flower guidelines and higher concentrations in was-tewater, than required in the local regulation, areallowed. The adoption of the eco-label runs the risk todefine and institutionalise a setting, where the environ-mental demands are reflecting the lowest commondenominator resulting in weak incentives for bringingforward environmental optimised dye systems.

Still, the environmental communication in the textileproduct chain in general is too week to compensate forthe lack of stimuli from the regulatory system. Ecologi-cal modernisation of the textile vertical in this way arekept within a track driven by a economic technologicalrationality—more radical moves are dependent on asmall numbers of environmental drivers such as Novotexand a subset of actors e.g. in Germany and Sweden.

Another obstacle is the development of an ecologicalmarket of textiles. The development of such a market,which was anticipated by part of the Danish textileindustry in the first part of the 1990s, has not taken place.Eco-oriented retail chains, such as COOP-Denmark(Danish Co-operative Retail Organisation) andHennes & Mauritz, tried to introduce eco-collections


(children’s clothes) without success. Price differences, anarrow range of products and a lack of knowledgeamong shop workers and customers turned out to bedecisive obstacles [43], and the project was closed. Thislack of awareness and knowledge has been addressed bythe product panel in a public funded campaign on eco-labels—but so far without being able to install majorchanges in the market.

7. Discussion and conclusion

The study has provided evidence of a sector andenterprises responsive to discourses of ecological mod-ernisation communicated within environmental policyschemes. The industry has engaged in an ecologicalmodernisation process. Specific capacity building, insti-tutional learning and transformations have taken placein the sector and among enterprises.

It was not a top-down process. It was a historicalreflexive and interactive process. The institutional learn-ing process is seen as an interplay between a nationalecological modernisation strategy, a construction of pol-icy programs and institutions and enterprises respondingto the programs and given their own strategic interpret-ation. This interaction established a dynamic learningprocess with the construction of new actors and percep-tions, a new technological selection milieu, and newcompetencies within the enterprises and their network.

Table 1 summarises the progression of the capacitybuilding and learning process. The effect is a changedcapacity; actors with new environmental perceptions,competencies, and relations have been constructed as anoutcome of this reflexive process, resulting in a sectorwith an environmental capacity based on distributedcapabilities.

The notion of institutional reflexivity establishes afocus on the attachment of specific meaning to environ-mental problems. The institutional transformation pro-cess is seen as a specific socio-political process, produc-ing closures of environmental practices in every stage.

This was the case with the CT-programs. The pro-grams in their interaction with the industry andenterprises installed an enhanced environmentalcapacity, and produced a specific way of reflectingenvironment. The new knowledge resources documentedand made accessible in the textile environmental net-work held the potential of obtaining substantial reductionin the consumption of water, chemicals and energy andin the discharges of suspended material in the waste-water. The implementation was based on a strategy pro-gram generated by the stakeholders in the industry andthe related network of knowledge institutions. Thisfocussed and strengthened the program, but it also pro-duced a closure in terms of actors involved and in termsof the environmental perception in the program and

industry. The program established a path, which wastechnique oriented and focussed on wastewater in linewith the environmental regulation of the textile industry,giving fewer impulses to other paths of developmentsuch as more radical substitution schemes and optimiz-ing material flow.

The programs have led to an incremental introductionof cleaner technology. But in parallel, a selective milieuof the textile industry has been produced. The mainactors in the sector have developed shared perceptionsof the environmental problems and the way to act onthem. The textile industry and (local) environmentalauthorities have developed a high degree of consensuson environmental perception. Around this perception astable constellation of consultants and research insti-tutions have—within the CT programs—formed a inter-woven net of (systemic) competencies on textile dye-ing processes.

The goal of the CT and product oriented programsaddressing the textile industry has been to spur anddefine environmental innovative behaviour. They haveinfluenced the pace and the direction of environmentalinnovations in the industry. The programs have also con-ditioned a learning process. New schemes on eco-man-agement and product orientation are now being taken upwithin the industry. However, the scope of this trans-formation or modernisation process still has to be exam-ined.

Throughout the transformation process a group offrontrunners has actively participated, and environmentalconsiderations based on different perceptions are nowintegrated in their search and decision processes. Amongthe frontrunners there has been a collective learning pro-cess, in which the perception has moved from goodhousekeeping and substitution, to environmental man-agement systems, to product oriented and to LCA andeco-labelling schemes. On the other hand, we witnessthat the adoption of technological solutions throughoutthe industry may have been limited.

Judged up front on the practices of the frontrunners,the industry has moved a long way towards ecologicalmodernisation adopting an LCA perspective in theimprovement of environmental performance. Environ-mental push based on permits and the CT programs tech-nology push have been supplemented and partly replacedby a market-oriented strategy of the product panels.Looking at the activities within the product panelscheme, we witness a new path dependency related tothe search of new market opportunities for the frontrun-ners. The ecological modernisation strategy thus shouldbe interpreted as a selective modernisation strategyfocusing on the construction of niche markets based on‘green cotton’ and similar products and a not tooambitious eco-labelling strategy based on the Europeanflower.

The study gives evidence of how national ecological


Table 1The institutional learning process in the textile industry

Permits and control: Cleaner technology: 1991– Environmental management Product oriented program: 1997–1974– systems: 1995–

Construction of Command and control Closed corporate network of Proactive firms with enhanced Proactive firms actively trying toactors oriented regulators, actors (Knowledge capacity to control the process construct new markets for

reactive firms institutions, proactive branch operations environmentally friendly products.organisation, proactive firms Corporate institution on eco-focusing on win–win on cost labelling. New stakeholders fromtechnologies) e.g. retail, design

Technology paths Compliance with Technology push— Environmental management Product and life cycle orientation.regulatory demands. development of win–win systems and documentation of Chain management andEmission oriented, technologies combining cost environmental performance of documentation of environmentalcleaning technologies reduction and environmental production LCA-performance(add-on) gains. Local eco-efficiency

Competencies in Knowledge of Construction of new Formal instrumental Chain and market oriented,knowledge wastewater and technologies in knowledge management systems. development of instruments fornetwork hazardous chemicals in institutions, capacity building Environmental mapping and environmental documentation

environmental agencies in business network reporting. Supply chainmanagement in business network

Competencies in Emission of sites. Cleaner technologies options, Capacity to monitor and manage Eco-labelling, ability tofirm Water reduction and but lack of ownership and environmental performance. communicate and document

reuse of water competence building at firms Environmental supply environmental performancemanagement system

Strategic Environmental action as Win–win perspective Competitive advantages related Win–win perspective focusing oninterpretation in cost focusing on cost reduction. to environmental documentation new business opportunities relatedfirms Reactive response to public in chain and regulatory relations to environmentally friendly

demands products and environmentalcompetencies

modernisation policy schemes have been turned into pro-grams and a specific institutional transformation shapingenterprise behaviour. However, the case studies of ‘ fron-trunner’ enterprises cannot inform us how these insti-tutional transformations conditions, the behaviour ofenterprises throughout the industry. The means to ensurediffusion have to be examined.

The analysis documents major transformations ofinstitutions and social practices, but it also indicates thelimitations of such an ecological modernisation strategy.There are changes at a systemic level in institutions, intheir resources and competencies, in their social practiceand perception, which establish new conditions. But thechanges at the production level may be limited. Thescope of changes even of the frontrunner takes placewithin a narrow horizon, indicating the need for instal-ling an ‘ industrial transformation perspective’ , whichmay define and induce long term and system-orientedgoals and measures.

References

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http://www.mst.dk

Documents

Ecological modernisation and institutional transformations in the Danish textile industry