Textile processing industries is one of the most important industries of Pakistan with regard to production, export and labour force employment. The number of industries working in this sector is estimated to be around 670 out of which 394 industries are the members of All Pakistan Textile Processing Mills Association (APTPMA). Karachi has the major share with almost 300 industries. Apart from Karachi, most of the industries are located in Punjab. These units carry out various textile processes, ranging from desizing and bleaching to calendering.

Water is the most consumed utility, due to shortage of water, textile mils heavily rely on ground water supply. In addition, a considerable amount of gas and electricity is also consumed by the industry.

To minimize the cost and other expenses, a project titled ICTP-Textile was started with the cooperation of Dutch embassy in year 2000 to evaluate the problems of textile sector and to present the solution of same.

The main objective of this project was to prepare an environmental baseline of the textile sector of Pakistan and determine the potential for the implementation of environmental solutions in textile sector