In a country with 148,460 km2 and a vast population of 170 million, Bangladesh has already made its own name in the textile industry. Just after one year of getting the taste of independence from West Pakistan, The World Bank stated that the Gross Domestic Product, in short GDP of Bangladesh at $6.29 billion which skyrocketed in 2021. A margin of $386 billion GDP was recorded in 2021 in which 80% of the export sector earned by the RMG sector, according to Wikipedia. Bangladesh is currently holding the 2nd position in the race of export in the RMG sector in the world and soon, in a world with environmental issues and climate changes because of globalisation and pollution, Bangladesh will turn into a Green Bangladesh because of Green Textile.
Green textile is the process of producing fibre, fabric or garment without harming the environment by using harmful chemicals and keeping the ecological impact minimised. Green textiles may also refer to clothing or accessories designed to use organic or recycled materials, less packaging and more energy-efficient manufacturing. Fabrics like Silk, Hemp, and Lyocell etc. are produced in green textile. One of the most important attributes of Green textile is green factories consume 40% less energy than other factories and have 30% less water consumption ability.
In recent days, buyers and consumers are worried about the climate changes and environmental problems because of industries like RMG sectors and others. It has been stated that most of the harmful chemicals and hazardous gases are coming from textile industries and taking part in climate changes and environment pollution. “Go Green” is a great initiative for the textile sector because of their major role in climate change. Some of the major strategies that textile industries has taken for “Go Green” are given below-
Source Reduction: This is an important step for textile by changing production and consumption patterns in order to reduce the waste and pollutants.
Sustainability: This is a practice to use methods that can be possible to use in future for limitless time to meet societal causes.
Innovation: This involves focusing on finding different ways to use technologies without harming nature.
Cradle To Cradle Design: This process involves the product that can be re-used or recycled so that the product could not turn into a waste which could be harmful for the environment. This process is an end cycle of Cradle to Grave Design.
Viability: The aim is to create an economic activity centre that focuses on products and technologies that are beneficial to the environment, thus increasing the speed at which such technology and product concepts can be implemented.
With the world taking initiatives to minimise the pollution and environmental causes; Bangladesh took initiatives with their textile industries to go green and help Bangladesh and the world to breathe fresh air. Bangladesh has already set up the idea to go green with certified green factories. LEED, abbreviation of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a certification provided and developed by U.S. Green Building Council. Initiatives like Sustainable site development, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere consumption, materials and selections and resources, indoor environment quality, innovation, regional priority etc is a must to a factory for LEED certification because the rating system of LEED depends on these initiatives. The certification of LEED can be divided into four categories according to the points earned by the factory. The four types of categories are-
Certified: 40-49 points
Silver: 50-59 points
Gold: 60-79 points
Platinum: 80+ points
According to Dhaka Tribune in 2022, 171 factories in Bangladesh have been LEED certified as a green RMG factory by U.S. Green Building Council which is highest in the world. Bangladesh Garments Manufacturing and Exports Association (BGMEA) told Dhaka Tribune that as of September 2022, Bangladesh has 53 RMG factories in Platinum category, 104 in Gold, 10 in Silver and other 4 factories are LEED certified. Recently, factories like Fatullah Apparels ltd, Debonair ltd; Orbitex Knitwear ltd, Sharaf Apparel Washing and Dyeing Industry ltd are certified as Platinum LEED. BGMEA also said that more than 550 factories are waiting for their LEED certification in the pipeline.
In the world's top 100 LEED certified industrial units, Bangladesh has 42 units in the list. Remi Holdings ltd, a Bangladeshi RMG factory with the Platinum LEED certification, scored 97 points in the certification process on July 15, 2016 which is highest in the industrial unit of the world.
Industrial insiders and factory owners said that Bangladesh is standing very nearly to become global leader by facing challenges like sustainability, climate changes, groundwater depletion, efficiency and other. Experts believe that After the Rana Plaza tragedy where 1500 garment workers found dead and 2000 workers were injured, running towards the green textile lead the RMG sector to recover from that tragedy. Foreign traders are also very much interested to do business with the green factories because they are very concerned about the environment and climate changes.
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