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Aerial view of a palm oil mill and storage tanks among plantations
An industrial complex surrounded by forest
Industrial stacks in a harbour area
The glass facade of a modern building
A facility building with a light facade
Aerial view of a container terminal
Aerial view of process units and tanks at a plant
Factory stacks releasing steam at dusk
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A farmer working in terraced rice fields
An electrical substation at sunrise
Utility and cooling systems on a factory roof
Energy installation structures against a dusk sky

Palm Oil & Refinery

Palm oil you can prove, from plot to tank.

Every industry has its own impact points. See your sector's map

New rules, explained by what you need to prepare.

Colour in the fabric, not in the river.

We prepare the data the effluent standard, PROPER and brand audits ask for at every phase of your mill, from boiler to dormitory, and bring it together on Ailesh+.

See your phaseTalk to us about your mill

Regulators and brands now ask for the same figures.

Effluent discharge, steam use and the chemical list are reused by the effluent standard, PROPER, Higg FEM and brand audits. Measure them once, properly, and you answer all of them from the same source.

Risk

Mills that already hold permits must adjust to the new textile effluent standard. Its limits on colour and on volume per tonne of product often call for an extra treatment stage at the wastewater plant.

2 years to comply for mills that already hold an Environmental Approval or a simple environmental statement (SPPL).

According to Environment Ministry Regulation 12/2025

Opportunity

Global brands are moving their suppliers onto clean energy. Mills that recover heat and leave coal boilers behind first cut steam costs and become the suppliers brands look for.

under 1% → almost 40% clean power bought by Nike's key suppliers, FY20 to FY25.

According to Nike, 2025

Priority

Install departmental sub-meters, build a chemical inventory, then measure the gap between your wastewater plant and the new standard. That data fills PROPER, Higg FEM and brand audits at once.

  • Textile effluent standard (Environment Ministry Regulation 12/2025)

    issued 4 Sep 2025; permitted mills adjust within 2 years of entry into force

    BOD, COD and TSS limits follow the discharge band, with further limits on colour and effluent volume per tonne of product.

    According to Environment Ministry Regulation 12/2025

  • PROPER (Permen LH/BPLH 7/2025)

    , the national environmental performance rating (Environment Ministry Regulation 7/2025)

    annual cycle · Participants hit by an administrative sanction during the rating automatically receive Red.

    According to KLH/BPLH, 2026

  • EU ESPR (Regulation (EU) 2024/1781)

    ban on destroying unsold clothing applies to large companies from 19 Jul 2026

    Medium-sized companies follow in 2030, and the volume of unsold goods discarded must be disclosed.

    According to Just Style, 2026

From site to retrofit, one chain of data.

Your effluent band is set by the discharge you design, and your Higg FEM score rests on meters installed during construction. Pick your phase to see what needs to be ready.

Phase 1: Water and heat are chosen before the land is bought.

A dyeing mill uses large volumes of water, and the state of its receiving river decides how closely it will be supervised. The boiler fuel chosen here decides whether the mill can supply brands that refuse coal.

What needs to be ready

    • 1.1 Raw water and the environmental document

      Map the water source and drought risk, because drawing large volumes of groundwater raises the obligation to a full environmental impact assessment (AMDAL).

      According to Environment and Forestry Ministry Regulation 4/2021

    • 1.2 Receiving-river baseline

      Measure upstream and downstream water quality before the mill is built, especially in closely watched priority river basins.

      212 companies in the Citarum basin are rated under PROPER

      According to KLH/BPLH, 2025

    • 1.3 Thermal energy choice

      Compare gas, residue biomass and heat pumps from the start, because H&M stopped onboarding new suppliers with coal boilers in January 2022.

      According to Stand.earth, 2025

Phase 2: The discharge you design sets the standard you meet.

Dyeing capacity and wastewater plant design are decided together, because COD, BOD and TSS limits follow the discharge band you design. Heat recovery and the chemical store are locked into the drawings too, at far less cost than a retrofit.

What needs to be ready

    • 2.1 AMDAL and technical approvals

      Make the 2025 standard the design target for the wastewater plant from the first document, including the compliance point for online monitoring.

      COD of 115–150 mg/L by discharge band, with colour capped at 200 Pt-Co

      According to Environment Ministry Regulation 12/2025

    • 2.2 Heat recovery from the first drawing

      Design heat recovery from hot dyeing effluent and stenter exhaust, counter-flow washing and VSD compressors before machinery is ordered.

    • 2.3 Chemical management by design

      Plan a segregated chemical store and an inventory linked to the ZDHC Gateway before the first purchase.

      According to ZDHC, 2024

Phase 3: Meters go in with the machines.

Departmental sub-meters installed with the utilities cost far less than a retrofit, and their data becomes your Higg FEM evidence. A biological wastewater plant needs time to acclimatise, so trials start before dyeing runs at full load.

What needs to be ready

    • 3.1 Construction monitoring

      Build sediment ponds first, monitor dust, noise and runoff, then report every semester through the ministry's SIMPEL system.

    • 3.2 Departmental sub-meters

      Install electricity, steam and water meters for spinning, dyeing, finishing and garmenting along with the utility works.

    • 3.3 Contractors and migrant workers

      Write minimum wage, working hours and camp standards into contractor agreements, and record the local-hire share from the start.

Phase 4: First-year data decides the next order.

Higg FEM, the greenhouse gas base year and the energy baseline are all calculated from first-year data. The operating certificate (SLO) must be issued before the trial period ends, because discharging without it is prohibited after that.

What needs to be ready

    • 4.1 Operating certificate and online monitoring

      Apply for the SLO after performance tests of the wastewater plant and stacks, and install online effluent monitoring (SPARING) once discharge reaches 1,000 m³ a day.

      According to Environment and Forestry Ministry Regulations 5/2021 and P.80/2019

    • 4.2 Chemical inventory and first ZDHC test

      Check your chemical list against the MRSL through InCheck, then test effluent in the April or October cycle.

      According to ZDHC, 2024

    • 4.3 Higg FEM and the GHG base year

      Fill the energy, water, wastewater, emissions, waste and chemicals sections from the same sub-meters and inventory.

Phase 5: PROPER and order allocation read the same meters.

Green PROPER asks for evidence of energy, water and waste efficiency, while brands ask for intensity per kilogram and a coal exit plan.

259 textile companies rated in PROPER 2024–2025, the third-largest sector.

According to KLH/BPLH, 2025

What needs to be ready

    • 5.1 Water per kilogram of fabric

      Cut use through counter-flow rinsing, right-first-time dyeing and cooling-water reuse.

      effluent volume capped at 100 m³ per tonne of product

      According to Environment Ministry Regulation 12/2025

    • 5.2 Coal exit plan

      Set a conversion schedule to certified residue biomass, gas or heat pumps, with a measured Scope 1 baseline.

    • 5.3 Forced-labour due diligence

      The EU ban on forced-labour products applies from 14 December 2027; map suppliers beyond tier 1 and gather evidence of no recruitment fees.

      According to Regulation (EU) 2024/3015

Phase 6: Existing mills face a 2027 deadline.

A tertiary treatment stage and a boiler conversion take time to design, procure and permit. Start with a performance audit of the wastewater plant, so the investment only closes the stage that is actually missing.

What needs to be ready

    • 6.1 Tertiary treatment upgrade

      Add ozonation or activated carbon for colour, and membranes if the water is to be reused.

    • 6.2 Boiler retrofit and its permits

      A fuel switch changes the emission source, so the technical approval and Environmental Approval are amended before the new boiler fires.

      According to Government Regulation 22/2021 and Environment Ministry Regulation 6/2026

    • 6.3 Expansion, relocation or closure

      An added line can move the mill into a stricter discharge band, while closure requires clearing hazardous-waste stores and a worker transition plan.

      According to Environment Ministry Regulation 12/2025

From the chemical store to the dormitory.

Every unit carries its own obligations and its own data, from the fibre that comes in to the garments that go out. Open them one by one.

Fibre and chemical store

Cotton, polyester, rayon, dyes and auxiliaries are received and stored; fibre is the mill's largest Scope 3 source.

  • Waste
  • Emissions
  • Safety

What you can manage

  • Store chemicals apart by hazard class
  • Link the chemical inventory to the ZDHC Gateway
  • Record fibre country of origin per lot

26× supply-chain emissions against average operational emissions

Source: CDP, 2025

Spinning, weaving and knitting

Fibre is spun into yarn, then woven or knitted into greige fabric, with power drawn by motors, compressors and humidification.

  • Energy
  • Safety
  • Waste

What you can manage

  • Meter kWh per kg in every department
  • Fix compressed-air leaks and fit VSDs
  • Monitor fibre dust and workroom noise

Pretreatment and dyeing

Desizing, scouring, bleaching and dyeing take the most water, steam and chemicals in the whole mill.

  • Water
  • Energy
  • Waste
  • Safety

What you can manage

  • Aim for right-first-time to cut re-dyeing
  • Use counter-flow rinsing and cold pad batch
  • Meter water and steam per machine

70–120 m³ of water per tonne for knit fabric finishing

Source: IFC, 2007

Printing and finishing

Printing, stentering and coating run on thermal-oil heat, and solvent-laden exhaust leaves through the stacks.

  • Emissions
  • Energy
  • Waste
  • Safety

What you can manage

  • Recover stenter exhaust heat
  • Manage leftover print paste as hazardous waste
  • Test stack emissions under the technical approval

50 mg/Nm³ VOC guideline for drying exhaust at large installations

Source: IFC, 2007

Boilers and thermal oil

Coal, gas or biomass boilers and thermal oil heaters supply steam and heat for all wet processing.

  • Emissions
  • Energy
  • Waste

What you can manage

  • Return condensate and audit steam-line insulation
  • Draw up a coal conversion roadmap
  • Manage coal ash and report its volume

67 H&M supplier factories still ran coal boilers in 2023

Source: Stand.earth, 2025

Wastewater plant and compliance point

Equalisation, coagulation, biological treatment and a tertiary stage treat effluent before discharge at the compliance point.

  • Water
  • Waste
  • Energy
  • Community

What you can manage

  • Monitor pH, COD, TSS and flow online
  • Test sludge and manage it by its status
  • Measure aeration energy per m³ treated

COD 150 → 80 → 40 mg/L, ZDHC Foundational to Aspirational levels

Source: ZDHC, 2024

Garment and cutting

Cutting, sewing, washing and QC form the most labour-intensive unit, with large volumes of fabric offcuts.

  • Waste
  • Community
  • Energy
  • Water

What you can manage

  • Sort offcuts by fibre type for recycling
  • Track unsold stock by buyer
  • Route denim-wash water to the wastewater plant

EU ban on destroying unsold clothing applies from 19 July 2026

Source: Just Style, 2026

Warehouse and container dock

Finished fabric and garments are packed and loaded onto container trucks for the port, handled by loaders and outsourced warehouse staff.

  • Emissions
  • Waste
  • Safety
  • Community

What you can manage

  • Log tonne-km by mode and route
  • Cut polybags and plastic packaging
  • Keep origin documents for every shipment lot

Dormitories and workers' rights

Dormitories, canteens, the clinic and lactation rooms serve thousands of workers, most of them women.

  • Community
  • Safety
  • Water
  • Waste

What you can manage

  • Compile wages, overtime and contract status monthly
  • Run a logged harassment complaint channel
  • Make sure residents can come and go freely

80% of workers in Better Work Indonesia factories are women

Source: Better Work, 2026

1 / 9

Typical facility illustration; not a specific site.

Our work in textiles.

Projects across spinning, dyeing and garment mills.

One set of meters for PROPER, Higg FEM and your buyers.

Every brand and regulator sends its own questionnaire, and retyping the same figures again and again leaves room for a mismatch at audit. Ailesh+ brings it together: steam and power meters in Energy+, Scope 1 to 3 in Carbon+, effluent and sludge in Waste+, and dormitory and community programmes in Social+. PROPER+ and ESG+ then build compliance evidence and reports from that same source.

Meet Ailesh+Try the demo

Which phase is your mill in?

Tell us the phase, from choosing a steam source to costing a wastewater retrofit. We'll map the data and documents that need to be ready.

Email us at [email protected]Check your mill's readiness for export-market demands, free