The country’s readymade garment sector is poised to become a compliant and environmentally sustainable one as the government, retailers and the BGMEA have undertaken a good number of initiatives to improve the overall condition of this sector.
BGMEA has taken a series of initiatives including Zero Discharge of Hazardous chemical, Partnership for Cleaner Textile (PACT), establishing biological ETP, through which used water of the factories would be recyclable, establishing central ETP on the basis of the cluster to share the facility among the adjoining factories. It is also working on awareness building to use energy saving lights and other machinery.
Environmental sustainability is about making responsible decisions that will reduce someone’s business’ negative impact on the environment. Currently, environmental sustainability is a topical issue that receives plenty of attention from the media and from different governmental departments.
Environmental Sustainability and safer workplace are now a must for the Bangladeshi RMG sector as the global buyers are worried over the ecological balance and sustainable development and full-fledged compliance, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Vice President Shahidullah Azim told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
“I believe that Bangladesh will be a role model in setting up green factory as a good number of green factories have already been established in the RMG sector while some are on progress,’’Azim said.
BGMEA has launched Textile Technology Business Center (TTBC) to support the textile sector in adopting best practices and technologies that improve business and environmental sustainability, Azim said. It is also working on Cleaner Production (CP), Occupational Health and Safety (OHS), Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and Effluent Treatment Plants (ETP), he added.
The government has also offered some incentive including duty free import of safety equipment and fabricated building materials and provided 470 acres land to build a RMG Industrial Park at Bausia in Munshigonj for relocating the factories from the capital.
Meanwhile, the workers safety standard of the sector got a momentum as the inspection has been concluded and remediation works started.
The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh has completed inspection in 1,106 factories. Following the inspection 18 factories has been closed as it found structural fault. The Alliance for Bangladesh Workers Safety has inspected 587 factories. Based on the recommendation of the Alliance engineers, the review panel has closed production of eight factories.
According to an estimate of BGMEA, the country’s ready made garment sector needs to spend over Tk2,410 crore for importing fire equipment, sprinklers and fire-rated doors to comply with fire safety conditions set by the two retailers’ platforms, Accord and Alliance.
The issue of fire, electrical and building safety came under the spotlight last year following the collapse of Rana Plaza that killed over 1,100 workers and also the devastating Tazreen Fashions fire.
