Journal of Cleaner Production 12 (2004) 337352

www.elsevier.com/locate/jclepro

Ecological modernisation and institutional transformations in the

Danish textile industry
Bent Sndergard Ole Erik Hansen, Jesper Holm
Department 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 studies
of environmental programs and enterprise responses this article examines how the Danish textile industry has related to this modernisation process, and how the institutional setting and environmental practices of this industry have been transformed. This transformation is understood as a reflexive process where enterprises have responded strategically to programs and institution building based
on the national ecological modernisation strategy. The paper reveals how this process has resulted in the construction of new actors
and environmental perceptions in the industry, a new technological selection milieu, and the building of new competencies within
the enterprises and their network. The study presents evidence for the industrys enhanced environmental capability, but it also
identifies 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 environmental regulation, institutional settings and practices,
and the corresponding corporate reflection and behaviour
in the Danish textile finishing industry.
Local licensing and control have traditionally regulated the textile finishing industry, but in recent years
(1990 and onward) the industry has been subject to new
environmental regulatory schemes and programs. New
strategies and instruments have been tested in an interactive process with the industry.
Technology programs have generated new technologies and products serving the means for corporate transition towards cleaner production. In addition, new competencies have developed among businesses and their
networks, shaping their capability to adopt technological
innovations in response to environmental and ecological
demands. Thus, during this process, a number of corpor-

Corresponding author. Tel.: +45 4674 2636; fax: +45 4674 3041.
E-mail addresses: bents@ruc.dk (B. Sndergard); oeh@ruc.dk
(O.E. Hansen); jh@ruc.dk (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 which

interpret, perform and diffuse ecological modernisation
discourses.
The aim of this paper is to analyse the content of this
transformation focusing on how new institutional structures and environmental perceptions have developed
within the textile industry sector, and how these changes
have been interpreted and have influenced the environmental activities of the industry.
The analysis has a normative dimension. The process
is observed and analysed with the aim of assessing the
environmental scope of the modernisation process in
order to develop a better understanding of policy options
for the promotion of more environmentally friendly production schemes.
The study takes place at three levels. At the macro
level, the process of ecological modernisation, which
dominated environmental and industrial policy in
Denmark in the 1990s [1], is presented as the framework
for the specific transformations in the textile industry.
The main components of this process have been a
sequence of programs and policy initiatives taken by the
Danish Environmental Protection Agency (DEPA). At
the meso level, the paper examines how these programs

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B. Sndergard et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 12 (2004) 337352

have been constructed and have supported specific institutional and discursive formations, and (in a dynamic
perspective) how systemic competencies and environmental perceptions have been produced within the institutional technological and regulatory complexes of Danish textile industry. The aim is to specify the resultant
selective milieu that favours specific paths of technological development and environmental actions. Finally, at
the micro level the impacts of this milieu are studied
from a bottom-up perspective: Exploring how firms
operating in networks and within specific strategic
schemes reflect upon, interpret, and perform in response
to the environmental programs. The paper examines how
enterprises have interacted with the programs, and how
their practices have developed. This is studied in depth
by the examination of the processes of two environmental innovation projects within two textile enterprises.1
The paper is divided into six sections: 1) The theoretical framework of the analysis of institutional transformations, 2) The methodology, 3) The development of the
national policy framework, 4) A presentation of the Danish textile industry and the case enterprises, 5) An analysis of enterprise practices reflecting environmental programs and institutional transitions, 6) Discussion about
and conclusion on the scope and limits of the specific
institutional transformation of the Danish textile industry.

2. Theoretical perspective
2.1. Ecological modernisation and institutional
reflexivity
In our study of the Danish textile industry, we draw
on the analytical perspective of ecological modernisationand in particular the concept of institutional
reflexivity [24]. The basic claim of ecological modernisation is that modern society possesses a capability to
carry through an institutional reflexivity and to build a
capacity in society enabling it to handle its ecological
crisis. Problems of modernisation are conceived to be
handled via the development of institutions, the building
of environmental enlightenment and capacities among
corporations and consumers.
Ecological modernisation refers to both a prescriptive
and an analytical approach. On the one hand, it is perceived as specific changes in the structural and institutional conditions of production [2]. Mol [5, p. 4647]
1
The study has been part of a joint project Towards an Integration
of Environmental and Ecology-oriented Technology Policy. Stimulus
and Response in Environment Related Innovation Networks
(ENVINNO) funded by the Target Socio-economic Research Program,
EU. The project includes partners from Austria, Denmark, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.

identifies five main areas of structural transformations

that have enhanced the capability to cope with the ecological crisis:
1. The changed role of science and technology, now
integrated in proactive schemes,
2. Increased involvement of economic and market
dynamics and economic agents,
3. Changes in state-industry relationsthe changed role
of regulation,
4. Changed discursive practices with reference to sustainability, and
5. The modification of the position, role and ideology of
social movements.
On the other hand, the ecological modernisation
approach is a certain way of conceiving environmental
problems and societal responses, represented by Mols
[2] research program concerning the development of
institutional reflexivity: the historical transformation of
institutions and social practices. In this context, we pay
special attention to the cultural dimension to emphasise
the importance of those discursive processes in which
specific ways of perceiving and communicating the
environment are given preference based on discourse
coalitions and fights [6]. However, the transformation of
structural conditions in terms of capacity building in
industries is also addressed.
Changes in the handling of environmental problems
within an industry (or other settings) are viewed as an
institutional reflexivity process [2,4,7]. According to
Beck, it is a process in which modern society and its
institutions attach specific meaning to the environmental
problems and build up a capability to reflect on the social
conditions (and on their existence) and to change them
accordingly [8].
This places the focus on how the environment is perceived, how it is communicated, on which agents are
involved and how different agents reflect, act, and communicate environmentally. It is a central feature of this
understanding that in these reflexive processes both the
institutions and ways of reflection are changed. There is
a change in the role and relations of firms, industries,
government and agents (such as NGOs). Ecological
modernisation entails that they become free of structure;
in fact they have to redefine structure [5, 8, p.176]. How
enterprises in specific industrial settings reflect and interpret their roleand as part of this, whom they define as
central stakeholdersbecomes a central issue. It is this
process of institutional reflexivity, as it is developed and
installed in the Danish textile industry over time, and
the outcome of the process, which is to be analysed.
In this open question we agree with Buttels [7]
understanding of the research program of the ecological
modernisation. He notes a first generation of ecological
modernisation research bodies which were based on the

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claim that capitalist liberal democracy has the institutional capacity to reform its impact on the natural
environment, and that one can predict that the further
development (modernisation) of capitalist liberal
democracy would tend to result in improvement in ecological outcome [7, p. 59]. This closed approach is now,
he observes, transformed into a new generation of
research working on identifying the specific socio-political processes through which the further modernisation
of capitalist liberal democracies leads to (or block) beneficial ecological outcomes [7, p. 59].
Within this framework of ecological modernisation,
the institutions of market and science are not a priori
ascribed a reflexive capability enabling them to meet the
challenges of the ecological crisis. On the contrary, we
contest such a teleological interpretation, and relate to
the general discussion about reflexive modernisation
(Giddens, Beck & Lash [9]), where the outcome of any
such processes is seen as open.
2.2. Institutional transformation and strategic
interpretation
On the most general level, Berger and Luckmann
define institutions as the rules, i.e. predefined patterns
of conduct, that the members of a social group have generally accepted [10]. In an evolutionary and institutional
perspective institutions influence innovative changes as
a stable frame for technological change, but at the same
time produce path dependencies [11]. In this perspective
ecological modernisation is understood as an institutional transformation and learning process.
A main aim of our study is to analyse how the
enterprise, as a focal agent embedded in networks and
strategic schemes, interprets and acts in relation to
environmental problems. Thus, the interplay between
enterprises and institutional frameworks is understood as
being contingent, leaving scope for enterprises to
manoeuvre.
From the enterprises point of view, the path of technological development and the level of integration of
environmental concern that is chosen can be seen as
dependent upon strategic interpretation, internal
resources and competencies and the network, in which
the enterprise is embedded [12].
The enterprise network consists of the relations
between the enterprise and its external customers, suppliers, knowledge institutions, authorities, and institutions of civil society. From an analytical point of view,
we may differentiate [13] between the business network
(primarily related to the value system), the regulatory
network, and the knowledge network as three different
communicative systems in which the enterprises are
embedded. The problem arises, e.g. when demands communicated in the regulatory network (grounded on
environmental considerations) clash with the values,

339

strategies and perceptions of the enterprises and their

business or knowledge networks.
In this process of strategic interpretation, environmental programs may well provide systemic resources (e.g.
technology push schemes), but how the enterprises
attach to the programs will depend on their strategic
interpretations. Studies of these interactive processes,
where enterprises co-shape the programs by their specific ways of relating to them, are needed to grasp the
processes of institutional transformation and to understand the outcome of these processes. Institutions and
network relations provide structural horizons and are
produced as structural horizons in this process.

3. Methodology
The developments within the Danish textile industry
are studied as a historical, reflexive process where
changes in national environmental policy schemes and
programs, industry specific program activities and
environmental practices, and corporate strategic behaviour in an interactive process form an institutional transformation and learning process.
Interviews with key actors in the textile industry, in
the knowledge and regulatory networks, and a number
of internal DEPA (Danish Environmental Protection
Agency) evaluation studies of the cleaner technology
programs have provided an initial reconstruction of the
historical reflexive process. Four subsequent stages of
regulatory schemes or paths are identified: permits and
control, cleaner technology, environmental management
systems, and product oriented program approaches.
Two enterprises were selected for in depth studies.
The main selection criteria were that the enterprises had
been involved in the program activities of DEPA and
that they had initiated and concluded an environmental
innovation project. The research expectations being that
a detailed process tracing of the environmental innovation project would provide an understanding of
environmental perception and resources of the
enterprise. These two studies were used to achieve a bottom-up understanding of how the institutional changes
have staged the transformation of parts of the Danish
industry. The bottom-up studies give us a more detailed
understanding of a) how environmental demands are
communicated, interpreted and turned into practices in
enterprises, and b) the processes of learning and reflections within the industry.
The studies make visible the capacity building that has
been accomplished both at an institutional level and at
enterprise level. Capacity building is analysed historically along the four identified paths of regulatory and
institutional set-ups, which have formed a cumulative
process. Within each of these paths we seek to explore
the forming of new actors and new constellations of

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actors, the construction of specific technological development tracks, the generation of competencies within the
knowledge network and among the enterprises, and the
shaping of new environmental discourses.

4. Environmental policy development and

industrythe national framework
The ecological modernisation processes in the textile
industry take place within a process of changes in
national policy schemes, discourses, and programs on
environmental protection and improvement [1420].
During the years 19741995, the dominant measures
introduced into Denmarks environmental protection to
regulate industry were those of issuing legally binding
licenses and permits which were subsequently controlled
by local inspectors. The implementation of legislation
has taken place at two tempi: in close co-operation with
industrial and agriculture associations, the Ministry of
the Environment has had the role of producing general
guidelines and thresholds for the control, servicing and
issuing of permits among the local authorities. Secondly,
the local authorities have been obliged to make targets
for local ambient quality and neighbour nuisances.
Optional guidelines and thresholds of the ambient quality approach were in principal based on mapping and
deciding specific environmental aims for the ambient
quality of a specific recipient (city, stream, lake), and
therefore differing from recipient to recipient. Against
this background the local authorities were supposed to
issue pollution permits, to give wastewater licences, control industry and agriculture, ensure nature preservation,
draw wastewater plans and build solid waste sites and
wastewater utilities. The technological spin-offs from the
ambient quality strategy were diverse dilution techniques
while no requirements were made on the internal processes or products within the industry. For industry, the
institutional set-up has typically resulted in rejection
strategies or simple paying-the-bill attitudes. In the long
run, they have been misled to expand until they hit the
ceiling of the Ambient Environmental Quality (AEQ)
quota.
The regulation of industry, only with reference to
ambient environmental quality standards, resulted in an
accumulation of the ecological pressures. This has led
to supplementary regulation since late 1970s, which
focussed on the pollutant infrastructure and end-of-line
solutions (filters, wastewater treatment units, incineration, and separation of hazardous waste). The end-ofline solutions were reflected in new emission standards
focussing on effluents from chimneys and pipelines. Due
to a comprehensive Plan for Aquatic Environment in
1987 municipalities invested approximately 1 billion
Euro in biological and mechanical wastewater treatment
plants over a 10 year period to fulfil the general manda-

tory guidelines for organic effluents (on N, P, and Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD)). The Plan for Aquatic
Environment was related to problems from regional and
national eutrophication in the mid-1980s, stemming from
diffusion of organic substances from industrial point
sources, agriculture and public sewage treatment plants.
Also all larger industries with direct outlets to fjords and
bays were faced with new emission standards. Whereas
the smaller industries were obliged to link up to public
wastewater treatment plants and pay taxes related to the
amount and type of discharges. The capacity of the wastewater treatment plants thus became an intermediate
variable for the corporate individual standards on
organic substances. Other pollutant handling infrastructures were also faced with standards on emissions and
deposits, which were passed on to their subcontractors.
Instead of solely recipient assessments, the emission
standards placed a focus on amounts, toxicity, diffusion,
and exposure.
Through these emission standards and the establishment of pollutant handling infrastructure, industry learnt
that the use of external solutions to their waste problems
meant that no liability could be imposed on the polluter.
Environmental protection was still an add-on cost, also
for the public in the form of tax-paid municipal treatment
plants and subsidised industry. By that time the wastehandling infrastructure produced problem shifting as new
media suffered from the pollution from incineration,
wastewater sludge and recycled composite.
From mid 1980s the institutional learning on problem
shifting spurred measures to re-internalise environmental
concerns by economic incentives and the discursive constellation of regulatory ideas beyond legal rules began.
Thus it is in this period that the discourse on ecological
modernisation, cleaner technology and pollution prevention was forwarded to integrate environmental concern
into business portfolios.
The first genuine effort towards technology innovation
was initiated by DEPAs 1986 R&D program for subsidising research and development aimed at producing
new cleaner/Best Available Technologies. The cleaner
technology programs (CT-programs) served to foster
innovations among firms and the Danish technological
R&D institutions, and to demonstrate for authorities and
industries the available options for pollution prevention.
The programme has been administered within a corporate management regime, where industries and R&D
institutions could put forward their own preferences. A
vast number of reports have been made from various
trades, relating to various kinds of environmental and
technological foci. In the first generation of CT programs
(19861992), the focus was on a policy for R&D in a
push for new technological inventions in individual firms
to reduce hazardous emissions and waste from industrial
processes. Very often the subsequent diffusion of the
developed, available, technologies was not taking place.

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The second generation of CT programs introduced in the

1990s focussed on generating an in-house corporate pull
for cleaner technologies, accordingly initiating environmental management, green accounting, and competence
building among management staff. The third generation
of CT programs has shifted towards generating a market
pull for cleaner products within a LCA perspective. The
areas receiving support include innovative research in
technology and product design, networking and benchmarking activities for product standards, and competence
building. The programs gave priority to three focus
areas: electronics, goods transport and textiles.
Along with the CT programs the environmental authorities in their handling of the enterprises introduced a
differentiation among companies as to frontrunners,
compliance oriented and reluctant. A command-andcontrol line was favoured for the latter, whereas service
and routine control were prescribed for the compliance
oriented. But it was among the frontrunners, or wantto-bees, that central, local and regional authorities have
met new challenges, to support an environmental corporate management regime. These firms have served as
sparring partners for R&D, for developing new cleaner
technologies, for designing new cleaner technology subvention schemes, lobbying on product standards in
CEN/ISO, and for enforcing environmental regulation
on competitors.
In the third generation a major focus on the role of
green consumerism as a motor for changing markets has
been given priority. These market-pull-oriented initiatives, which also cover the product program, reflect an
effort to initiate market dynamics where green consumerism and green purchasing by public institutions
and corporate front-runners are supposed to be an
efficient alternative to command-and-control. The product orientation of Danish environmental policy thereby
stresses the enhancement of environmental communication and profiling between industries, retailers and
consumers.

5. Environmental programs and the textile industry

5.1. The Danish textile industry
Global market restructuring forced the Danish textile
industry to undertake major structural changes in the
1990s. In the period 19902001, employment went down
from 22,500 to 11,400, while turnover in 2001 prices
went from approximately 13 to 28.9 Mia. DKr and
export rose from 9.7 to 21.6 Mia DKr. [21,22]. This
reflects that the business has turned to concentrate on
high value-added activities, such as design, marketing,
and franchising, and on specialised product niches (e.g.
technical textiles). The labour-intensive sewing processes have been out-sourced, primarily to Eastern Eur-

341

ope. Finishing processes are still, for reasons of quality

management, operated in Denmark for approximately
30% of the turnover [21]. In textile printing, however,
the production is narrowed down to short runs and special deliveries.

5.1.1. Environmental strategies

Environmental upgrading of the industry has been part
of this repositioning process. Within a framework set out
by the Ministry of Trade and Industry in 1994 the industry elaborated a strategy and framework program of the
development of the industry [23]. The program pinpointed the development of marketing competencies,
organisation and management, networks and high flexibility as being the main issues. And in particular, it
pointed to the need for a greater effort in product development and innovation. It recommended a greater focus
on design and on the development of specialised products and niche products that met a growing environmental and quality awareness of the consumer.
Developing environmental qualities was identified by the
industry as one way to evade fierce price competition,
and was communicated by the branch organisation
(DTB - Dansk Tekstil & Beklaedning) of the textile
industry as a potential strategic parameter in the transformation process. In this way, the branch organisation
has adopted a strategy designating green modernisation
as one option for the textile industry. They actively
engaged in the development and implementation of the
environmental programs and thereby they took a corporate approach, seeking consensus on the programs. Within
this framework a minor part of the industry has adopted
green strategies based on ecological design and high
environmental performance.

5.1.2. Environmental regulatory programs

The textile industry, and in particular the wet processing finishing industry, has been a priority concern
of cleaner technology programs and local environmental
regulation schemes in Denmark. In the printing and finishing processes the cloth passes through a number of
chemical processes to enhance appearance, durability,
and serviceability of the end product. These wet processes result in a high consumption of water and in waste
generation and emissions of chemicals. In addition drying furnaces and mechanical finishing entail a high consumption of energy.
The main emissions from the textile printing industry
originate from pigments, acrylates and conditioners used
in the printing paste. The wastewater is generated during
operation of the printing machine and cleaning of rollers
when new runs are prepared. The main environmental
problems of the discharged wastewater from printing are
related to the chemical oxygen demand (COD) of the

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B. Snderga rd et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 12 (2004) 337352

suspended material and toxic effects of chemicals2

[24,25].
In parallel to the described national policy schemes,
four main paths (regulatory schemes) can be identified
within the textile industry, representing a gradual and
cumulative expansion of the scope of the environmental
policy programs: 1. Permits and control, 2. Cleaner technology, 3. Environmental management systems, and 4.
Product oriented approach. The development from command and control to a more reflexive approach can be
perceived as cumulative. The system of permits and control still forms the backbone of the environmental regulation, but in the attempt to induce innovative dynamics,
new approaches have been developed. In this process,
specific ways of reflecting and acting on the environmental problems have been produced in the textile industry in an interactive institutional learning process.
5.2. Co-development of enterprise practices and
institutional transformations
Two cases of co-development of enterprise responses
and institutional transformations have been studied
[26,27]. The objective was to examine a) how the
enterprises have developed their environmental
resources and competencies, and b) how they have
responded and reflected on the institutional settings
developed through the program activities (within the
four different regulatory set-ups) described above. The
decision processes of two innovation projects were studied in detail, to obtain a more profound understanding
of the social practices of the enterprises.
The two enterprises, So dahl Design (SD) and Danish
Colour Design (DCD), have both been environmental
responsive, but they have related to the programs in different ways. This exposes different dynamics in the
interaction of enterprises with the programs and provides
a contextual knowledge of the institutional transformation and learning process of the textile industry.
2
The EU eco-labelling system (Commission Decision
1999/178/EC) identifies the main environmental performance indicators 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 reproduction 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 complexing
agents, such as EDTA (ethylene diamine tetra acetate)

As important, however, is that the case studies provide

knowledge on the creation of resources and competencies in the enterprises enabling them to engage in
a green modernisation process, giving evidence of the
production of distributed capabilities.
5.3. Business characteristics of the enterprises
So dahl Design (SD) (approximately 100 employees)
produces household textiles. The So dahl Designs production site covers all stages in turning bleached woven
cotton into finished consumer goods; including printing,
finishing, cutting, sewing, packaging and marketing. It
produces specially designed collections, marketed as
brand goods. Two thirds of the production is exported,
with Scandinavia, Germany and UK as the most
important markets.
Danish Colour Design (DCD) (approximately 30
employees) is a 100% order based subcontracting textile
printer. It markets printing and finishing of woven
materials of cotton and synthetic fibre for final goods
producers. British, German and Danish contractors
dominate. In recent years, DCD has experienced fierce
competition on standard printing deliveries.
DCD is a subcontractor to Novotex (approximately 80
employees) which produces clothes and linen within a
green concept (Green cotton). Most of the processes,
including printing, are out-sourced. The activities at the
plant in Jutland are primarily related to design, purchase,
logistics, and marketing95% of the products is
exported, primarily to Germany. The management of the
enterprise has deliberately sought a position as a strategic actor in the product chain with the perspective to
practice an integrated chain management based on LCA.
They have actively sought partnerships in the industry
based on their Green cotton concept.
The three enterprises are situated in Mid-Jutland (SD
and DCD in the same municipality) in a region with
numerous textile enterprises, forming a specialized
industrial textile network. They can be considered as
environmental frontrunners; Novotex and SD are ISO
14001 and EMAS certified, DCD is ISO 14000 certified,
and Novotex and DCD have achieved the standard for
the EU eco-label and the Nordic Swan on part of their
products.

6. Enterprise practices reflecting institutional

transitionselements in an institutional learning
process
6.1. Environmental permits and control
Following the Environmental Protection Act of 1974,
environmental permits were made mandatory for the textile wet processing industry. The permits covered the

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handling of toxic substances, nuisance and air emissions.

Within this framework, practices have emerged which
instituted specific ways of perceiving and handling
environmental problems.
An example of such instituted practices is the score
system (designed to assess environmental performance
of the chemicals used in the textile industry) which were
developed by the regional environmental authorities in
the county of Ringkjoebing. The main concern was the
environmental impact of the discharge of wastewater
from the industry on aquatic recipients. In collaboration
with VandKvalitetsInstituttet (VKI) (Research Institute
specialised in water quality), the county forwarded a proposal of a score system to the industry, anticipating that
the system should be used to assess existing and future
chemicals used by the textile industry. The industry went
into the project realising the advantages of a common
foundation of the process to assess and communicate
environmental qualities of the chemicals. As a result,
DTB adopted the system and took the responsibility to
develop a common database that enabled them to elaborate score reports to their member enterprises. The
enterprises were obliged to forward a score report to
the environmental authorities in the counties or the
municipalities every half year.
The score reports enabled the enterprise and the
authorities to identify the most problematic chemicals
within a common framework. The reports in this way
established a starting point for negotiations between the
enterprise and the authorities to prioritise the effort in
substituting or reducing the use of chemicals.
The wastewater handling system in the Danish textile
industry has to a great extent been based on public sewage treatment works run by the municipalities; only a
minor fraction of the industry runs private wastewater
treatment plants. Wastewater has been regulated separately under special licenses and fee systems. The municipalities are responsible for issuing licenses and controlling the manufacturers that emit to public sewage
treatment works, whereas the counties are responsible
for controlling the operations of the public works run by
the municipalities and of production sites that emit direct
to the recipients.
The Aquatic Water Plan of 1987 (see section 5)
instructed all municipalities to install or expand biological wastewater treatment to cleanse organic spills from
direct emittants to recipients. With the plan new emission thresholds were imposed on public treatment works,
surpassing new performance demands to industrial emittants. Based on this approach, the load of organic substances to the water treatment plants (e.g. level of Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) or Chemical Oxygen
Demand (COD)) became a main issue in wastewater
regulation in general and in the regulation of textile wet
processing industries.
The sludge produced in the sewage treatment works

343

was initially diffused on crop fields as fertilisers. The

sludge was monitored to keep track of harmful substances; in particular, heavy metals were subject to control. In the first half of the 1990s, this practice was criticised by the farmers organisations, raising the concern
that the impurities could be taken up in crops. As a
result, a new statuary order enforced the municipalities
to keep the content of heavy metals and four indicator
compounds within new lower limits. Confronted with
these demands, many municipalities chose to abandon
the reuse of the sludge as fertiliser; instead the sludge
was deposited or incinerated. The (ironic) outcome, in
relation to the textile industry (and other industries), is
that the new handling schemes for the sludge, in this
way, reduced the systems built-in stimuli to eliminate
harmful substances from their wastewater discharge.
National guidelines on environmental permit issuing
required, since 1991, that a cleaner technology action
program was elaborated and made an integrated part of
the enterprises environmental permit to ensure that best
available technologies were implemented. As part of this
regulatory scheme, it was anticipated that DEPA should
issue
industry-targeted
recommendations
(Brancheorienteringer) to be used as reference for Best
Available Technology (BAT) demands. The agency,
however, in most industries has failed to elaborate such
recommendations (with the IPPC Directive (Integrated
Prevention and Pollution Control, 1997), BAT-notes
elaborated at the EU level are going to replace them).
This has been the case in the textile industry too. The
cleaner technology program (see section 6.2) did contribute documentation of best practices, but although a
branch profile describing best practises has been drafted,
a recommendation (Brancheorientering) has never been
issued. Therefore, the process of defining cleaner technology schemes as part of the permits within the textile
industry has been a decentralised task of the counties
and municipalities, leading to a weak implementation.
Within the permit and control scheme specific ways
of communicating environmental problems have been
institutionalised; bound to institutions as the score system and to the specific infrastructural set-up (the wastewater handling system). While others, such as the cleaner technology options were not systematically made
part of social practices by the authorities.
6.1.1. Enterprise reactive responses and
environmental communications in the permit control
set-up.
Although shifts in environmental practices of the
industry were driven by demands in the environmental
permits and the wastewater licenses, the enterprises, in
their interaction with these demands gradually changed
in their environmental capabilities, strategies and awareness. Proactive approaches became favorable.
During the re-negotiation of their permit (19891990),

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DCD was met with a number of strict demands from

local authorities. Confronted with potential high compliance costs DCD began to implement cleaner technology options. This approach led to changes in environmental competencies of the enterprise.
The efforts to reduce water consumption give an
example on the changes in approach and enterprise
capacity. Initially, the reduction was based on the elimination of over-consumption (good housekeeping). Later
most of the reduction was achieved by introducing recirculation schemes (rinse water from the last flushes of
the rollersand feeding systemswere reused in the
first part of the rinsing process) developed within the
cleaner technology program in the resources-project
[28]. DCD was engaged in this project and developed
their knowledge on re-circulation technologies. Both at
DCD and SD water saving was integrated in plant operation, 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 of
four).
These processes, however, construed specific paths.
The local regulation was water recipient orientated and
the management of water consumption, wastewater and
to some extent substitution of hazardous chemicals was
their main concern. Cleaner technology schemes were
seen in a winwin-perspective on costs (e.g. pay back
time on water sawing technologies at the textile printers
were very low). Within these codes a water saving trajectory developed in the industry. The drawback of this
water saving trajectory was that the amount of chemicals discharged was not reduced accordingly.
The Score System helped to introduce a more radical
communication, shifting the focus to the bio-degradability, bioaccumulation, and harmfulness to the wastewater treatment. This has been integrated in the environmental work of SD and DCD and has resulted in a
gradual substitution of chemicals with high scores
(indicating environmental problems) at both enterprises.
Regulation thus provided an important driver for cleaner technology. However, the permit institution push
on cleaner technology experienced by the enterprises
was indirectly, as it was communicated in threshold
values on emissions and wastewater. More direct
demands have proved to be difficult. In the renewal of
SDs permit (1996), the municipality noticed SDs work
on cleaner technology (the Memtex project, see section
6.2), but refrained from making it part of the conditions
of the permit. Information asymmetries and risk of picking a loser put limitations on the use of permit practices
in relation to the adoption of cleaner technology.
6.2. The cleaner technology programs targeted at the
textile industry
In 1990, the textile industry was included in the
second Cleaner Technology (CT) program of DEPA

[29]. Prior to this program, the specialised textile knowledge centre within the national technological service system (DTI-BT), had conducted explorative studies surveying the environmental impact of the industry and
examining possible solution [30]. The study identified
wet processing (dyeing, printing and finishing processes)
as the environmentally most crucial processes to address.
To some extent, these studies defined the agenda of the
subsequent programs, pointing to the development of
technical process oriented solutions related to wastewater problems from wet processing as the strategic
focus [31].
The cleaner technology activities were gathered
within a third CT textile program, 19931997 [32]. The
program was established in a consensus process; and
branch organisations and other stakeholders had been
given substantial influence over the implementation of
the program. DTB, the branch organisation, was a very
active player, both in this program and in the regulatory work.
One result of this co-operation was the settling of program objectives. The goals again gave priority to wet
processing. They were summarised in four points:
1. Reduction of wastewater discharges with 30% before
year 2000,
2. Reduction of the number of chemicals in the industry
injurious (or suspected to be) to health or environmentally damaging,
3. Improvement of environmentally problematic processes and equipment,
4. And finally, reduction in energy consumption [32].
The Framework Program and the consensus obtained in
the industry enabled a focussed and consistent
implementation, but it also installed dominant path of
environmental technology.
Until 1997 the CT programs within the textile industry
funded 25 projects for a total of 3.5 million Euro. The
first initiative was a comprehensive study of technological options concerning Integrated process layout
obtaining maximum re-circulation of process waterin
particular in enterprises with textile dying in batches
(DANTEX, start 1992, funding 650,000 Euro) [33]. In
the subsequent years (19911994) a number of specialised cleaner technology projects were initiated, most of
them focussing on wastewater, examining technologies
which enabled reuse of process water, chemicals and
energy and on the development of programs and receipts
with low environmental impact [28,34]. One of these
projects, the MEMTEX-project (see section 6.2.1.1)
tested membrane filtering of process water from textile
wet processing [35].
The content of the projects was highly influenced by
a group of knowledge centres. As described above, DTIBT had been responsible for the elaboration of the first

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study, in which wet processing and process and technology development towards wastewater problems were
designated as the main tracks of development. This strategy was adopted by the industry as a whole and by the
national environmental agency, DEPA. Subsequently,
two other knowledge centres were involved. The Institute of Product Development (IPU), a research and consultant centre rooted in the Technical University of
Denmark, was involved due to its technical competence
on industrial processes and integrated water treatment
techniques. Furthermore, the Water Quality Institute
(VKI), a research and consultant centre rooted in the
national technical service system, was drawn in to take
advantage of its specialised knowledge on toxicity and
water treatment processes. These three institutes formed
the backbone of agents and knowledge institutions in the
cleaner technology program targeted at the textile industry, and they developed a dominant knowledge network,
which took the initiative to develop projects, took part
in the decision process of the program and executed the
projects. Consequently, they obtained a position that
enabled them to ensure a consistent process of development, directed by the environmental perception originally laid down in the Framework Program. In addition,
this construction ensured a systemic competence that
could be used by the industry. However, the strength of
the construction was also its main weakness. It represented a closure, in terms of actors and options that
had access to the program and it introduced the problem
of transferring ownership of the developed technology
from the knowledge institutions to the enterprises [31].
The program consolidated a technology and production oriented approach. The central part of the program concentrated on development of technical solutions
in terms of better processes and technical plants for treatment and re-circulation of wastewater. Some projects
have supported substitution and LCA schemes, but even
these parts of the program have been very techniqueoriented.
Within the wastewater and technology oriented track
the CT-programs in the textile industry resulted in an
important environmental capacity building in terms of
technological options and competence in the knowledge
network (systemic level) and among a shallow layer of
frontrunner enterprises. The CT program demonstrated
and documented a number of potential technologies, but
in most cases the diffusion of the new concepts has been
limited. Membrane filtering of process-water in reactive
dyeing was demonstrated to be an economic and technological feasible technology in the CT- program [35], but
no diffusion of the technology has taken place (IPU,
interview 1999, Miljstyrelsen, interview 2000).
6.2.1. The cleaner technology programtwo
interpretations and reflexive responses within the
textile industry
The cleaner technology programs were designed as
technology push instruments: technological options and

345

systemic competencies in term of strong actors knitted

together in a knowledge network were the immediate
achievements of the programs. New actors and competencies were institutionalised at a systemic level. The
question is how the enterprises environmental perceptions, competencies, and technology paths have changed
due to the programs. Two examples of interaction with
the programs are examined: the implementation of the
membrane project (MEMTEX) at SD and the programs
relations to the DCD-Novotex vertical.
6.2.1.1. The membrane project (MEMTEX)interpreted
within local regulation and SDs business strategy horizons In the DANTEX project [33] IPU had demonstrated that the membrane technology offered a technically and environmentally functional, and also
economically feasible, technology to handle wastewater
from reactive dyeing of cotton. Based on these experiences IPU, together with environmentally active
enterprises, fostered the idea of testing these results on a
broader array of process water within the textile industry
(MEMTEX project, initiated 1994). This included a pilot
project at So dahl Design (SD).
When organising the project, IPU used the network
relations established in the Dantex project (VKI and
DTI-BT, see section 6.2) extended with experts on membrane filtering. The Memtex-project was in this way
rooted in national networks covering membrane technology and national wastewater competencies.
Pilot-tests revealed that the membrane technology was
not readily adaptable to So dahls production. To rinse
the textile printing wastewater to process water quality
enabling reuse, a special membrane module had to be
introduced and it was necessary to add a pre-rinsing step
and a final nano-filtration. However, the membrane technology was brought to function in this modified concept [35].
Membrane filtering could have been seen as a key
technology enabling So dahl Design to control and manage a main component of their environmental performance.3 But SD perceived the membrane filtration to be
a failure. They closed the project and chose another solutiona traditional biological wastewater treatment
plant (1997), designed to meet COD content demands
(and reduce fees) imposed by the public sewage treatment works.
SDs abandonment of the membrane option was in
part a result of the institutional set up of the cleaner
3
The membrane filtering offered high environmental improvements. The process water from the operation of the printing machine
and from the rinsing processes was to be filtered, resulting in a separation in a clean fraction (the permeat) and a fraction where the suspended material is concentrated (the concentrate). The permeat can
depending on the filter techniques that are usedbe of high quality
and be recirculated as clean water in the process. The consumption
of water and wastewater discharges could be reduced 80% if the technology were successfully implemented (Miljstyrelsen [31]).

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technology program, in part a result of the strategic

interpretations of SD. From the perspective of SD, their
participation in the MEMTEX-project was part of a
search of possible technological options to their wastewater problem. But the project was not a result of a
search strategy structured by SDs routines and networks
or by the specific problem of their production. On the
contrary, the focus on membrane technology was the
result of previous search rounds, which had come to a
closure (identifying membrane technology as a promising option) in the knowledge network. In this project
IPU wanted to test the limits of this technology.
The competence on membranes was centralised in the
knowledge network. An IPU consultant, together with
expert consultants, ran the test runs. However, in part
the competence was passed to SD. SDs environmental
co-ordinator operated the pilot plant and took part in the
analysis of the results. As a result he got hands-on
experience with the technology. In this way, the technical competencies of the co-ordinator enabled So dahl to
gain from the project in terms of an enhanced knowledge
on their wastewater.
If SD should have implemented the membrane technology they would have needed to address expert knowledge of the membrane network on commercial terms.
It revealed a weakness in the set up of the membrane
project. A highly qualified know-how on membrane processes at a systemic level was build, but the transfer of
the knowledge to the enterprise (the adaptation) was not
incorporated. On the contrary, the price structure of
using the consultants constituted a barrier making the
systemic knowledge difficult to access by small and
medium sized enterprises.
SD has adopted the environment as a strategic parameter and they have related to an eco-modernisation
project in the branch [26]. But this is perceived in a way
that reflects SDs position in the market and business
networks. Elements such as eco-management, eco-labelling and eco-design are all vital in relation to a lifestyle-market. But in relation to short-term decision on
wastewater discharge, the eco-modernisation project is
open to interpretation. The formal elements, as the ecomanagement systems and the eco-labelling, allow for
much manoeuvringEMAS define procedures, and the
requirements of the EU flower are not too demanding.
As a result, the problem of the wastewater was primarily
defined in relation to the perceptions forwarded in the
local regulation.
The initiatives within the cleaner technology program
offered the perspective to establish recycling and reuse
as close at the sources as possible. However, the project
was seen by SD as a move to comply with public
demandsit was not interpreted as a strategic innovative
move ahead of the demands presented in the regulatory
and business network. The membrane technology was
not necessary to comply with the environmental

demands, as they were communicated from the environmental authorities. Investments in the development of
the technology could not be justified in the regulatory
demands. The way the demands were communicated
focus on amount and COD, on a few heavy metalsdid
not support a (more expensive and uncertain) solution
offering an almost complete removal of the suspended
material from the wastewater discharge from SD. There
were not in the regulatory system produced a setting that
defined that SD had to take responsibility (beyond the
COD demands) of the substances led to the wastewater
system or the system of solid waste.
In a policy perspective, the outcome of the membrane
project at So dahl can be interpreted as a mismatch in
the 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 the
local regulation). The demands of the discharge licence
and the fee on discharge (related to COD-content) signalled a much more limited agenda. In addition, the technology, which was adequate to meet these demands, was
the traditional treatment plant. From the perspective of
the environmental regulation, the membrane technology
went far beyond what was needed to meet the demands.
It became a mismatched technology due to the environmental perception communicated in the environmental
policy system.
6.2.1.2. The Novotex verticalCleaner technology program reflected in an environmentally pioneering product
chain Novotex demands on environmental performance have played an important role in how Danish Colour Design (DCD) has perceived its production and
environmental work. The green cotton project, seeking to produce environmentally friendly textiles in an
LCA perspective, can be envisaged as a capacity building process in the product chain. In the development of
green cotton as a business concept Novotex has succeeded in engaging external partners, such as DCD, in
interactive learning processes. Novotex and its partners
in the development of environmental friendly technology
options have addressed public environmental and cleaner
technology programs. Over the years, the projects have
changed from exploring the basic environmental problems related to the textile product chain to the problems
of developing integrated chain management in a LCA
perspective. Projects have examined the integration of
Environmental Management Systems (EMS) and quality
management systems [28,37] and environmental management of suppliers [33].
6.2.1.3. Changes in technology paths and environmental
perceptions In their entrepreneurial endeavour, Novotex has been a key driver of environmental textile production in the Danish textile industry. The environmental

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demands (and goals) of Novotex spurred their suppliers

to engage in processes of environmental improvement.
This has led to a layer of environmentally oriented textile
suppliers, which in turn has taken part in projects within
the cleaner technology program.
In 1993 Novotex, as part of the implementation of
environmental management, passed on demands to DCD
to substitute formaldehyde from fixation process of
printed fabrics. Thus, the urge grew for DCD to change
this process, not only in order to avoid costly demands
on monitoring airborne solvents required by local authorities, but also to be able join a new quality cluster and
stabilise their sub-contracting relationship to Novotex.
Novotex also used the score system in demanding
environmental impact monitoring by their sub-suppliers;
thus DCD was experiencing the business networks confirmation that meeting the public demands was
important.
At the same time, Novotex requested DCD for a substitution for heavy metals in the paste-colours, as their
German market demanded this environmental profile
(see below).
Novotex green cotton concept and their demand
has introduced a radical environmental perception,
which DCD has used as a reference of their search for
technological options. To some extent, DCD has made
this perception part of their environmental perception,
and gradually the relation to Novotex has developed into
a mutual interactive learning process based on this common platform. This has defined an environmental track
of development.
The outcome, and overall environmentally innovative
achievement of DCD, has been a systematic environmental optimising of its dye-system and dyeing processes. A more distinct achievement has been the substitution of heavy metal in the printing dyes. DCD initiated
a search for heavy metal free dyes back in 1993
inspired by Novotex requests. They succeeded to
implement the new dye system, which enabled them to
offer a heavy metal free line of printing dyes (eco-tex).
In the market, however, it was difficult for DCD to
take advantage of the innovation. Besides the production
to Novotex, the use of DCD eco-tex dye system only
found minor markets on childrens clothes in Sweden
and Germany. The weak penetration of the market cannot be explained by price alone (3% higher than standard
dye systems). Uncertainty on functionality and weak
institutional support for green textile products seemed to
be important (see section 6.4.1).
6.3. Environmental management
Having experienced deficiencies in the technology
push paradigm, DEPA (the National Environmental Protection Agency) and ADTI (the Agency for Development of Trade and Industry), made a joint effort to sup-

347

port the adoption of Environmental Management

Systems (EMS) (19951997, funding totals 18 million
Euro. The purpose was to obtain the diffusion of green
practise by means of competence building and initiation
of environmental management schemes within
enterprises. The new scheme sought to enhance the
capacity of local corporate staff to monitor and document local environmental performance, and improve the
managements knowledge of material flow and of
environmental profile of local production.
Two thirds of the program was targeted to selected
industries. Within the textile industry DTB (the branch
organisation) was given responsibility of implementing
the program.
To support diffusion and adoption of EMS, a private
consultant was hired to develop a branch specific manual
of environmental management. This developmental
work was rooted in a group of environmental proactive
textile enterprises, and resulted in the introduction of
EMS in most of these enterprises.
The enterprises were thus led into a reflexive position.
They were encouraged to develop a basic knowledge of
their environmental performance enabling them to
engage in the subsequent programs of environmental
documentation and communication.
6.3.1. Environmental management systemsupgrading
of local environmental competencies
SD implemented environmental management systems
supported by the local technological service system.
Main results of the process were a higher degree of integration of environmental aspects in the management system and a substantial rise in the level of control and
knowledge of the process operations at the plant. The
introduction of EMS was experienced as a winwin
move as it produced substantial savings enabled by more
optimised operations andat a subsequent stagefacilitated the introduction of eco-labelling.
The LCA approach in the green cotton concept,
combined with the outsourcing of most processes, has
made the management of external relations to suppliers
a strategic activity to Novotex. On top of their EMS,
they, in 1994, initiated a development of an environmental supply management system funded by a CT-program
[36,38], which enabled them to perform an environmental evaluation of their suppliers and to document the
environmental performance of their products. The system was developed with the long-term ambition to support an environmental product declaration scheme.
The certified EMS (EMAS/ISO 14000) has been used
as market strategic instruments, and the introduction has
strengthened the environmental communication in the
product chain. In addition, the competencies and expediencies gained in the introduction of EMS in the
enterprises have been important preconditions to enter
eco-labelling projects.

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6.4. The product oriented program

Following the evaluation of the CT-programs, a more
strategic and market oriented approach was introduced
by the DEPA in 1996formulated in the program A
reinforced product oriented environmental effort [39].
The stated goal of the program was environmental
improvements in a product life cycles perspective. An
integration of this goal in the market was seen as a prerequisite for obtaining more profound environmental
improvement, and in general terms the strategic
approach of the program was to generate institutional
preconditions of such an integration.
A main element of the program was the formation of
three product panels designated to examine product-oriented strategies looking at design, marketing and
environmental communication as main strategic
elements [40].
One of these panels was formed in the textile industry.
In its working program [41], the textile product panel
has focussed on the task to establish (systemic) competencies within the industry on ecological design. The
main activities within the textile product panel have
been: a) development of ecological collections (eco-labelled with the EU-flower) in the industry, b) development of operational tools enabling actors in the textile
chain to integrate and document ecological qualities in
the design and industrial purchasing functions, c) development of a knowledge centre on environmental documentation (labelling)financed by the textile branch
organisation (DTB), and d) development of an information strategy addressing actors in the textile industry
and consumers. A common goal for the product panel
members was to encourage Danish manufacturers of textiles and clothes to achieve the EU flower or the
Nordic Swan.
The program marked a changed approach. Technology
was not considered as the main barrier to environmental
improvements. Within the textile industry, the technology options and resources available were seen as providing ample scope of environmental improvements. The
barriers were located in the behaviour of the players in
the industry and the way the environment had been perceived and communicated in the product chain. For this
reason the product-orientated program addressed
changes of the institutional framework, and focussed on
the development of new competencies both at the systemic level and at the individual enterprise:
The development of chain and market oriented competencies. Program projects addressed such issues as
barriers against implementing eco-labelling, environmental supply management and economic assessment
of the production, purchase and sale of environmental
friendly textiles.
The development of instruments of environmental

documentation (Life Cycles Assessments, risk assessment, etcdedicated instruments to industries and
product groups) and the establishment of a knowledge
centre on the development and dissemination of
knowledge on environmental documentation and
communication.
The challenge of the individual firm was seen as a
move from environmental management focussed on
local eco-efficiency to LCA-managementinvolving
the need of achieving new competencies on interaction with actors in the product chain and stakeholders.
These changes were, to some extent, general to the
product-oriented program. Looking at the textile industry, the implementation of the program had been able to
profit of the achievements of the previous programs.
Research in technology options still took place, but
project funding shifted to the development of instruments to environmental documentation [42] and marketrelated instruments.
The actors that were addressed and given access to
the (discursive) processes of the environmental policy
arena changed. The product program was characterised
by:
Addressing strategic actors, such as retail chains,
franchisers and industrial laundries, etc in the product chain
Addressing strategic functions, such as design, purchase and product development, and focussing on an
upgrading of their environmental competencies
Addressing the chain, that is, addressing the development of co-ordinated action and relations between the
actors in the product chain was made a priority goal.
This was supported by the development of common
platforms of communication, such as instruments of
environmental documentation. In this process, the
product panel formed a formal institutional frame of
a co-ordinated action.
From the outset, the product panel (in the appointment
of members) addressed the environmental frontrunners
of the industry, but the initiatives of the panel have had
a wider impact. When the product panel revealed its plan
of a joint launch of eco-labelled collections (October
1999), the producers of the Danish industry showed
great interest. As a result the launch of the eco-labelled
collections were postponed (to spring 2001) to enable a
wider group of actors in the textile industry to join the
project. The outcome of these initiatives is yet to be
seen, but the eco-labelling move of the product panel
has inclined textile producers and the actors of the textile
chain to reflect on strategic potentials of joining a project
of eco-labelled product design.
The way these new institutional settings were reflected
upon by the actors of the industry is crucial. The pro-

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gram represents a deliberate attempt to combine the

build up of systemic competencies in terms of resources
(technologies and instruments) and environmental perceptions, and the empowerment of the actors in the textile chain to fill a role in an environmental reflexive process. Left without mandatory instruments, the faith of
the program relied on the practices of the players of the
industry, and how they may take up their roles as ecologist modernisation agents.
It is an interrelated gamethe way the players of the
industry reflect on the program produces a new setting
of the industry. If the retail chains engage in the program, they may enforce changes all the way along the
production chain. The importance of the practices of the
actors was reinforced by the changed interaction
between the environmental authorities and the players of
the industry. As part of the modernisation process the
environmental authorities have deliberately refrained
from taking a privileged position in the panel and related
institutions; environmental action was now defined and
prioritised in an interplay with the industry in a sociopolitical processin an open ended process.
The product panels decision of making the ecolabelling collection the strategic project may illustrate
this. In choosing the EU flower as environmental reference, the players of the industry have defined the level
of environmental ambitionand the direction of the
modernisation process. This selective approach has been
guided by business strategic considerationsthe EU
flower label enhanced market opportunities and was seen
as a stronger tool in environmental supply management.
The involvement of the actors in the product chain and
the integration in business strategy has been the main
objectiveand the role of the public authorities has been
to function as a moderator of this process.
6.4.1. The product oriented program and the
construction of a market for ecological textiles
The product-oriented program introduced an LCA
perspective integrated with market-oriented approaches
as main new elements. Within this framework, the members of the corporate institution, the textile product
panel, strategically chose to focus on the build up of
systemic competencies on LCA documentation and construction of an environmental market (the concerted
introduction of eco-labelled collections).
Both SD and Novotex are members of the product
panel (Novotex followed by SD has chaired the panel)
and has staked in this new strategy. The enterprises thus
represent a layer of actors that are ready to perceive LCA
management and eco-labelling as winwin situations in
a market strategic perspective.
SDs introduction of eco-labelled products can been
seen as a rational move considering SDs position as
an end product producer, marketing e.g. bedding textiles.
In addition, the environmental improvements in previous

349

initiatives (CT and EMS) have made it possible for SD

to meet the demands of the eco-labels (EU flower) without introducing major changes. The prime obstacle
proved to be the documentation (including documentation from suppliers) required having the products
certified. A major part of their internal environmental
work has been focussed on the task of developing procedures and competencies on the eco-label documentation.
The LCA approach has been part of Novotex strategy
during the last decade. They have chaired the EU working group on eco-labelling guidelines on T-shirts and
linen, which preceded guidelines on textiles. Equally,
DCD had obtained a capacity to deliver printing that fulfils the eco-labelling demands from Eco-Tex 100, the
EU flower, and the Nordic Swan.
The product panel has led to a joint development of
instruments of documentation of environmental performance; the private program of Novotex (and SD) has been
turned into a shared environmental project of environmental communication. The program enabled the shaping of a corporate institution gathering the main green
actors of the product chain in a joint strategic project to
stabilise paths of environmental development.
On the one hand, it represents an empowerment and
increased responsibility of the product chain actors. On
the other hand, it may represent a closure based on market strategic considerations and green consumers. One
problem is that the environmental demands of the EUflower [25] on production fall behind the technological
potentials developed in the cleaner technology program.
One example can be the heavy metal free dye system of
DCDin this setting it is only partly turned into a strategic advantage, as heavy metals are still allowed in the
EU-flower guidelines and higher concentrations in wastewater, than required in the local regulation, are
allowed. The adoption of the eco-label runs the risk to
define and institutionalise a setting, where the environmental demands are reflecting the lowest common
denominator resulting in weak incentives for bringing
forward environmental optimised dye systems.
Still, the environmental communication in the textile
product chain in general is too week to compensate for
the lack of stimuli from the regulatory system. Ecological modernisation of the textile vertical in this way are
kept within a track driven by a economic technological
rationalitymore radical moves are dependent on a
small numbers of environmental drivers such as Novotex
and a subset of actors e.g. in Germany and Sweden.
Another obstacle is the development of an ecological
market of textiles. The development of such a market,
which was anticipated by part of the Danish textile
industry in the first part of the 1990s, has not taken place.
Eco-oriented retail chains, such as COOP-Denmark
(Danish Co-operative Retail Organisation) and
Hennes & Mauritz, tried to introduce eco-collections

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(childrens clothes) without success. Price differences, a

narrow range of products and a lack of knowledge
among shop workers and customers turned out to be
decisive obstacles [43], and the project was closed. This
lack of awareness and knowledge has been addressed by
the product panel in a public funded campaign on ecolabelsbut so far without being able to install major
changes in the market.

7. Discussion and conclusion

The study has provided evidence of a sector and
enterprises responsive to discourses of ecological modernisation communicated within environmental policy
schemes. The industry has engaged in an ecological
modernisation process. Specific capacity building, institutional learning and transformations have taken place
in the sector and among enterprises.
It was not a top-down process. It was a historical
reflexive and interactive process. The institutional learning process is seen as an interplay between a national
ecological modernisation strategy, a construction of policy programs and institutions and enterprises responding
to the programs and given their own strategic interpretation. This interaction established a dynamic learning
process with the construction of new actors and perceptions, a new technological selection milieu, and new
competencies within the enterprises and their network.
Table 1 summarises the progression of the capacity
building and learning process. The effect is a changed
capacity; actors with new environmental perceptions,
competencies, and relations have been constructed as an
outcome of this reflexive process, resulting in a sector
with an environmental capacity based on distributed
capabilities.
The notion of institutional reflexivity establishes a
focus on the attachment of specific meaning to environmental problems. The institutional transformation process is seen as a specific socio-political process, producing closures of environmental practices in every stage.
This was the case with the CT-programs. The programs in their interaction with the industry and
enterprises installed an enhanced environmental
capacity, and produced a specific way of reflecting
environment. The new knowledge resources documented
and made accessible in the textile environmental network held the potential of obtaining substantial reduction
in the consumption of water, chemicals and energy and
in the discharges of suspended material in the wastewater. The implementation was based on a strategy program generated by the stakeholders in the industry and
the related network of knowledge institutions. This
focussed and strengthened the program, but it also produced a closure in terms of actors involved and in terms
of the environmental perception in the program and

industry. The program established a path, which was

technique oriented and focussed on wastewater in line
with the environmental regulation of the textile industry,
giving fewer impulses to other paths of development
such as more radical substitution schemes and optimizing material flow.
The programs have led to an incremental introduction
of cleaner technology. But in parallel, a selective milieu
of the textile industry has been produced. The main
actors in the sector have developed shared perceptions
of the environmental problems and the way to act on
them. The textile industry and (local) environmental
authorities have developed a high degree of consensus
on environmental perception. Around this perception a
stable constellation of consultants and research institutions havewithin the CT programsformed a interwoven net of (systemic) competencies on textile dyeing processes.
The goal of the CT and product oriented programs
addressing the textile industry has been to spur and
define environmental innovative behaviour. They have
influenced the pace and the direction of environmental
innovations in the industry. The programs have also conditioned a learning process. New schemes on eco-management and product orientation are now being taken up
within the industry. However, the scope of this transformation or modernisation process still has to be examined.
Throughout the transformation process a group of
frontrunners has actively participated, and environmental
considerations based on different perceptions are now
integrated in their search and decision processes. Among
the frontrunners there has been a collective learning process, in which the perception has moved from good
housekeeping and substitution, to environmental management systems, to product oriented and to LCA and
eco-labelling schemes. On the other hand, we witness
that the adoption of technological solutions throughout
the industry may have been limited.
Judged up front on the practices of the frontrunners,
the industry has moved a long way towards ecological
modernisation adopting an LCA perspective in the
improvement of environmental performance. Environmental push based on permits and the CT programs technology push have been supplemented and partly replaced
by a market-oriented strategy of the product panels.
Looking at the activities within the product panel
scheme, we witness a new path dependency related to
the search of new market opportunities for the frontrunners. The ecological modernisation strategy thus should
be interpreted as a selective modernisation strategy
focusing on the construction of niche markets based on
green cotton and similar products and a not too
ambitious eco-labelling strategy based on the European
flower.
The study gives evidence of how national ecological

B. Snderga rd et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 12 (2004) 337352

351

Table 1
The institutional learning process in the textile industry
Permits and control:
1974
Construction of
actors

Cleaner technology: 1991

Closed corporate network of

actors (Knowledge
institutions, proactive branch
organisation, proactive firms
focusing on winwin on cost
technologies)
Technology paths Compliance with
Technology push
regulatory demands.
development of winwin
Emission oriented,
technologies combining cost
cleaning technologies
reduction and environmental
(add-on)
gains. Local eco-efficiency
Competencies in Knowledge of
Construction of new
knowledge
wastewater and
technologies in knowledge
network
hazardous chemicals in institutions, capacity building
environmental agencies in business network
Competencies in
firm

Strategic
interpretation in
firms

Command and control

oriented regulators,
reactive firms

Environmental management
systems: 1995

Product oriented program: 1997

Proactive firms with enhanced

capacity to control the process
operations

Proactive firms actively trying to

construct new markets for
environmentally friendly products.
Corporate institution on ecolabelling. New stakeholders from
e.g. retail, design
Product and life cycle orientation.
Chain management and
documentation of environmental
LCA-performance

Environmental management
systems and documentation of
environmental performance of
production

Formal instrumental
management systems.
Environmental mapping and
reporting. Supply chain
management in business network
Emission of sites.
Cleaner technologies options, Capacity to monitor and manage
Water reduction and
but lack of ownership and
environmental performance.
reuse of water
competence building at firms Environmental supply
management system
Environmental action as Winwin perspective
Competitive advantages related
cost
focusing on cost reduction. to environmental documentation
Reactive response to public in chain and regulatory relations
demands

modernisation policy schemes have been turned into programs and a specific institutional transformation shaping
enterprise behaviour. However, the case studies of frontrunner enterprises cannot inform us how these institutional transformations conditions, the behaviour of
enterprises throughout the industry. The means to ensure
diffusion have to be examined.
The analysis documents major transformations of
institutions and social practices, but it also indicates the
limitations of such an ecological modernisation strategy.
There are changes at a systemic level in institutions, in
their resources and competencies, in their social practice
and perception, which establish new conditions. But the
changes at the production level may be limited. The
scope of changes even of the frontrunner takes place
within a narrow horizon, indicating the need for installing an industrial transformation perspective, which
may define and induce long term and system-oriented
goals and measures.

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