The BGMEA Made in Bangladesh week is in full swing.
On November 17, the Sustainability Leadership Award (TSA) added to the success of the week-long celebration of the textile Made in Bangladesh.
The award was jointly organized by BGMEA and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, which is supporting the German Government in achieving its objectives in the field of international cooperation for sustainable development, reads a press release.
An attentive audience – uniting high-level attendees of Bangladesh, factory and brand representatives, associations and academic and international development partners in the International Convention Center Bashundhara – lauded 18 winning factories who lead the conversation on social and environmental sustainability as well as innovative practices in the textile sector of Bangladesh.
The awards were presented in the three categories ‘Social Compliance', ‘Environmental Excellence' and ‘Innovation,' which were divided into nine subcategories.
‘Social Compliance' winners excel in women empowerment at the workplace, social initiatives in factory neighbourhoods and overall social setup. ‘Environmental excellence' was achieved by factories that lead in water efficiency, recycling of textile waste materials or overall environmental setup.
In addition, innovative practices were rewarded. The subcategories included innovations for business development, worker welfare and the future.
Under the “Social Compliance” category, Vintage Denim Studio was the winner and Echotex Limited was the runner-up for the “Most Convincing Factory setup.”
For “Women Empowerment at the workplace,” Ananta Garments became the winner and Pacific Jeans became the runner-up. And for “Best supported social initiative in the Neighborhood of a factory,” Epyllion Knitwear was the winner and Flamingo Fashions was the runner-up.
Under the “Environmental Excellence” category, Envoy Textile was the winner and Zaber & Zubair Fabrics was the runner-up for “Environmental Champion.”
For “Water use reduction over year,” Color City was the winner and Universal Jean was the runner-up. For “Recycle of textile waste materials,” Matin spinning mills & SIMCO Spinning & textile both became the winners and Karupannya Rangpur was the runner-up.
Under the “Innovation Excellence” category, Karupannya Rangpur was the winner and JM Fabrics was the runner-up for “Best Innovation from the Business Perspective.”
For “Best innovation for future,” Beximco Recover was the winner and Jinnat Fashions was the runner-up. And Square Fashion was the winner and SQ Celsius was runner-up for “Best innovation for workers welfare.”
Speaker of Jatiya Sangsad Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury attended the program as chief guest.
Faruque Hassan, president of BGMEA, said: “Bangladesh is globally acclaimed for its exemplary strides in workplace safety and leadership role in the area of sustainability in the RMG industry. We are proud to have the highest number of LEED-certified green garment factories in the world.”
“We are committed to making every possible effort to promote sustainability in the RMG industry of Bangladesh and take to the sector to a new high in the area. I believe while the Sustainability Leadership (TSL) Award recognizes the best practices of Bangladeshi garment factories in environmental, social, and innovation areas, it will inspire others to adopt sustainable practices to strengthen the image of Made in Bangladesh in the global market as modern, safe, and green,” he added.
Dr Michael Klode, project manager - Textile Cluster, GIZ Bangladesh acknowledged the joint successes achieved by stakeholders of the textile sector and underlined the commitment of German Development Cooperation towards establishing sustainability practices in Bangladesh.
“Germany, ranking as the number 1 importing country of textile Made in Bangladesh in the EU, is committed to continuing supporting compliant factories alongside our partners, many of whom are present in this room tonight. Our TSL award winners, the frontrunners of a thriving sector, are lighting the way ahead.” Dr Michael Klode stated.