The new “Implementation Circular on Textile Facilities”, prepared by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change to enhance environmental performance in the textile sector, was approved and entered into force as of August 6, 2026. The circular also includes provisions regarding the pilot implementation of the Innovative Reporting and Inspection System (IRIS), developed by HAVELSAN under a cooperation protocol signed between the Ministry and HAVELSAN.
The new regulation aims to enable more effective monitoring of air emissions, water consumption, and waste management processes.
According to a statement from the Ministry, IRIS will operate as a digital platform designed to assess and manage industrial air pollution.
The system will be able to provide real-time monitoring through fixed cameras and surveillance systems installed within facilities’ areas of impact. It will analyze collected data to evaluate the performance of flue gas treatment systems and assess industrial air pollution.
In the event of abnormal conditions, the application will send instant alerts to designated users, helping ensure that necessary measures are taken in a timely manner.
Under the circular, local authorities and relevant administrations within industrial zones will be responsible for procuring, installing and integrating the thermal and spectral camera systems required for the effective operation of the IRIS application.
The circular also allows facilities, upon request, to integrate operational data obtained through their Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems into IRIS, in accordance with criteria to be determined by the Ministry, for the monitoring of treatment system operations. This will enable the remote monitoring of dynamic flow diagrams, filtration systems, stenter burner systems, by-pass damper positions and key process parameters such as voltage and current, filter pressure differentials, fan speed, temperature and energy consumption.
New obligations on air emissions
Under the circular’s air pollution provisions, facilities carrying out heat-setting (thermofixation) processes and having a daily production capacity exceeding five tonnes will be required to install flue gas treatment systems on stenter units and ensure their simultaneous operation with the units.
Except for maintenance and repair periods, treatment systems must remain operational for at least 90% of total operating time.
To reduce volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions originating from stack emissions of units involved in coating, dyeing, finishing, lamination, thermofixation, drying, stentering, printing and textile finishing-related thermal processes, facilities will be required to: implement pre-washing processes; use technologies in flue gas treatment systems that enable separate collection of oils and energy recovery; and prefer highly biodegradable water-based or synthetic organic knitting oils instead of mineral oils in yarn production and knitting machinery.
The circular also sets air emission limit values. Accordingly, for facilities with daily processing capacities exceeding five tonnes in coating, dyeing, finishing, lamination, printing, combustion and thermofixation operations, the limit value for total VOC emissions has been set at 40 mg/Nm³, provided that data transfer to the IRIS platform is ensured.
Facilities that transfer data to IRIS and have treatment systems in place will be deemed compliant with emission limits if emission measurements conducted on different days during the year exceed the prescribed limits no more than three times.
Special provisions for OIZ on water reuse
The circular’s water pollution provisions aim to reduce water consumption in the textile sector and promote wastewater reuse. These provisions apply to textile facilities with daily capacities of 10 tonnes or more engaged in the pre-treatment, dyeing and finishing of textile fibres and textile products.
Textile facilities carrying out dyeing operations will be required either to treat and reuse all wastewater generated from dyeing processes in approved applications, or to recover and reuse at least 10% of their total wastewater in production processes.
Special provisions have also been introduced for facilities operating within Organized Industrial Zones (OIZs). If at least 10% wastewater recovery is achieved at the outlet of an OIZ’s central wastewater treatment plant and the recovered water is used as process water, facilities will be exempt from the aforementioned water pollution obligations.
To increase water efficiency, the circular encourages measures such as: sensor-based monitoring of water softening systems; reuse, where feasible, of water generated after regeneration processes; separate collection and reuse of cooling water; and separate collection and reuse of low-pollutant wastewater streams.
The circular also envisages the use of flow control devices and automatic shut-off valves on continuously operating machinery, the adoption of batch washing instead of overflow washing methods, and the implementation of distribution systems in which chemicals are supplied through separate online pipelines and mixed immediately before application.
In addition, facilities carrying out fabric mercerization exceeding one tonne per day will be required to recover wastewater containing caustic soda or reuse it in other pre-treatment processes.
Administrative sanctions for non-compliance
Facilities that fail to comply with the provisions of the circular will be subject to administrative sanctions under the Environmental Law. The IRIS imaging application is expected to become operational no later than December 31, 2026, while the installation and commissioning of mandatory treatment systems must be completed by December 31, 2028.
With the new regulation, the Ministry aims to advance digital environmental inspection, resource efficiency and sustainable production practices in the textile sector. With the entry into force of the circular, the 2022/20 Circular on Clean Production Practices in the Textile Sector has been repealed.