Environmental Sustainability in the Jordanian Garment Sector

The growth of the global fashion industry has led to adverse impacts on the environment. Jordan, a key player in the global garment industry, also faces pressures on issues of water, energy, and waste.Better Work Jordan (BWJ) is a collaborative program between the ILO and the IFC of the World Bank Group, that seeks to protect the rights of workers, and improve working conditions. BWJ’s upcoming global strategy focuses on the interaction between labor and the environment,  as such, tasked the capstone team to produce a report with recommendations. 

The report builds on existing literature and utilizes a qualitative approach by conducting focus groups with garment workers and interviews with industry stakeholders (government officials, NGOs, unions, etc.) The Capstone team also visited factories and dormitories in Jordan to conduct ground research. Four questions guided the research: 

1. What is the environmental impact of the Jordanian garment sector? 
2. How is the environmental impact affecting the workers in the Jordanian garment sector? 
3. What are the perceived constraints and opportunities around the environmental impact of the Jordanian garment sector for governmental and business stakeholders? 
4. What are recommendations to improve the environmental impact in the Jordanian garment sector?

The team then developed a set of recommendations in the report for BWJ, the government, and other relevant actors,  which included encouraging BWJ to cultivate a partnership between the government ministries; suggesting public-private partnerships to mitigate textile waste; improve food quality and taste to prevent food wastage and promoting knowledge of unions.