DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0959-6526(03)00058-1

Summary
This paper refers to the textile industry, the development of new toxicity assessment tools, and the use of systems thinking and community/industry/regulator dialogues. The case for the beneficial use of these tools is presented as an example of how to increase productivity through greener (environmentally conservative) production induced by cooperative stakeholder actions.
High labor costs in the USA have led to the transfer of the textile industry into the less industrially developed regions of the world, where less expensive labor and less stringent enforcement of environmental regulations results in lower production costs, at least in the short-term. The wet processing of the textile production and its negative environmental impact is discussed. Because of the complexity of textile wastewater, waste treatment plant operators are faced with difficult challenges to produce clean, non-toxic effluents. The combination of a profitable business climate and increased regulatory pressures created an atmosphere wherein environmental investments were encouraged, mandated, and seen as a good investment by a sound and profitable industry. The common objective of all stakeholders was to comply with regulations and to do so at the lowest possible cost in order to ensure growth, or at least sustainable health, for the community and the industry.
Particular emphasis is placed on the situation in the State of North Carolina from 1980 to 1995. During this period, regulatory, marketing, and testing changes in textiles were concurrent with the development of the social disciplines of systems thinking and win-win consensus negotiation on environmental matters. This combination of a dialogue-based approach to problem solving and systems thinking applied to the problems of toxicity reduction and helped both textile manufacturers and their stakeholders to make improvements. New tools were designed to prevent environmental problems through pollution prevention and waste minimization, i.e., greener and more efficient production. Improvements occurred when the industry began to use the new tests to benchmark environmental performance of the textile chemicals. The test results created the goal and the dialogue-based process was effective in engaging the textile industry, technical consulting community and regulators. It was the cooperative linkage of these groups that delivered the desired results of rapidly reducing aquatic toxicity from textile operations.

Relevance for Complex Systems Knowledge
This paper deals with system thinking and sustainability. It offers evidence of how the application of the principles of dialogue and systems thinking provided a win-win situation for both the ‘textile production chain’ and corporate stakeholders. Throughout this paper, systems diagrams are used to describe the importance or usefulness of systems thinking towards the resolution of environmental pollution problems.

Point of Strength
The point of strength of this article is that it demonstrates how through system thinking a cost-effective approach to toxicity reduction was developed. This approach improved both financial and environmental performance for industry and community.