Join hands to cut water, energy consumption
The government and retailers should shoulder some responsibility towards reducing water consumption in garment manufacturing to ensure sustainable production.
Every stakeholder should take responsibility for reduction of water consumption in production cycles, said Ziaur Rahman, country manager of Swedish retail giant H&M for Bangladesh, Pakistan and Ethiopia.
He spoke at a seminar on sustainable denim production held at the International Convention City, Bashundhara in Dhaka.
H&M is the not part of the pollution in Bangladesh as garment entrepreneurship started here much earlier. If the cost of water can be justified in production of denim, the customers will also pay for this, he said.
“We have a lot of room to do something to improve the situation.”
Rahman also said many small retailers come here in Bangladesh and place work orders and really do not care about the environment and sustainability.
Shwapna Bhowmick, country manager of Marks & Spencer, said of the total sourcing of denim products by her company 95 percent is purchased from Bangladesh, which indicates the country’s strength in this field.
“Bangladesh is very strategically positioned. Almost all brands and retailers purchase garment items from Bangladesh.”
However, investment in the backward linkage sectors did not happen at the expected level, she added.
Asif Zahir, deputy managing director of Ananta Group, said his company has been using energy-saving technologies to save up on production costs. For instance, he started using solar power on a limited scale in his factory as well as LED light.
“However, the changes need to be happening from the consumers’ side as well.”
Zahir went on to express hope that a big difference can be noticed in the use of water and energy in garment production in Bangladesh in the next five to 10 years as the manufacturers are adopting new technologies.
Joost Lina, policy officer of ministry of foreign affairs of the Netherlands, said Bangladesh needs to sell its positive stories.
He said his government will continue its support to Bangladesh in activities like water and energy saving technologies.
Bangladesh should be proud as the country has been performing very strongly in denim goods, said Hannah Abdullah, news editor of Just-Style.
Sabine Kuhnl, editor-in-chief of Sportswear International; Shams Mahmud, managing director of Shasha Denim; Inamul Haq Khan (Bablu), managing director of Ananta Garments; Munir Ahmed, director of M&J Group; and KM Khalilur Rahman, country manager of Groupe Carrefour, also spoke.
