Garment Industry in Bangladesh Struggles to Contain Pollution

Of all the textile goods produced globally, up to 65% are made from synthetic fibres, such as polyester, says Shahriar Hossain, secretary-general of the Environment and Social Development Organization (ESDO), a non-profit in Bangladesh. Synthetic fibres shed tiny bits of plastic, smaller than five millimetres in diameter. These microplastics do not break down easily and can remain in the environment for hundreds of years. They are also often consumed by marine animals, which mistake them for food.

A series of recent studies has highlighted the extent of the problem. Research published in November 2022 found that treatment plants in Bangladesh remove 62% of microplastics on average. This means that even with a working treatment plant, 38% of the microplastics generated by the dyeing, washing, pharmaceutical, battery and printing industries are being released into the environment – and ultimately the food chain.

Research published in January revealed microplastics are present in the water, sediment, fish and other aquatic animals of the Buriganga River.

And in May last year, a study concluded that the Dhaka watershed is “heavily polluted”, noting that, the “Dhaleshwari, Buriganga, Shitalakshya, and Balu rivers, in particular, were discovered to be black in colour visually and were experienced with unpleasant smells during the visual investigation”. The rivers of the watershed contained multiple contaminants, from high levels of organic pollutants to heavy metals. These heavy metals leach out of open landfills, the most common way of disposing of solid waste in Bangladesh, into surface and groundwater.

The researchers noted that the Dhaleshwari, Buriganga, Shitalakshya, Turag and Tongi rivers are “seriously contaminated” and that their waters “should not be used for irrigation”.

Shafi Mohammed Tareq, one of the authors of the study on the efficiency of ETPs, told The Third Pole that water contamination due to toxic metals made crops grown from such water unsafe. He added that the economic cost to nature and human health of the pollution caused by inefficient treatment systems would be much higher than the profits generated by the ready-made garment industry in Bangladesh.

Waste management and recycling are major challenges

According to Shahriar Hossain of the ESDO, fewer than 1% of factories in Bangladesh use or maintain the ETPs they have. He told The Third Pole that factory owners keep the ETPs shut most of the time and only run them during an inspection. Mohammad Azaz, chair of the River and Delta Research Centre (RDRC), which brings experts in the fields of river basin management, sustainability and delta studies together, told The Third Pole that the Department of Environment has limited capacity to properly monitor ETPs inside factories.

The dyeing industry in the Shyampur industrial area of southern Dhaka produces a massive amount of oil, grease and ammonia, which heavily contaminates local water bodies. Azaz told The Third Pole that no one can use this water and people have reported various physical problems, according to a recent study by the RDRC. Its survey of river water and agricultural fields in Sreepur and Shyampur in Gazipur found pollution was 10 times higher than the permitted level.

“Though the owners [of factories] claim to have 15% recycling capacity, we measured that the industries [related to ready-made garments] barely recycle 2-3% of the water they use in factories,” Azaz tells The Third Pole.

Tareq, who is also a professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences at Jahangirnagar University in Dhaka, says ETPs are a costly method to treat the water used in textile factories.

“Therefore, factory owners remain reluctant to install ETPs or mechanisms to recycle factory wastewater, and those factories that have ETPs have been found inefficient,” he says, adding that more local companies would adopt ETPs if the technology was more advanced and cost-effective, instead of dumping sludge waste, a common practice.

Sludge is a semi-solid byproduct of wastewater treatment. Tareq and Hossain allege it is often illegally dumped in landfills, agricultural fields and used in some other factories like cement and brick kilns. Worryingly, during the monsoon this sludge waste spreads from where it is dumped and ends up in rivers.

Tareq says that heavy metals remain in the sludge waste, which can be absorbed by crops and enter the human body. If consumed, it carries the risk of causing diseases, including cancer.

Sector insiders admitted at the Dhaka Apparel Summit held in November 2022 that waste management and recycling are major challenges for the ready-made garment industry in Bangladesh. They said that the fashion industry has a global waste problem and more attention should be paid to innovation and technologies that reduce water and environmental pollution.

Mohiuddin Rubel, a director of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), admits that there are some challenges when it comes to the waste management and recycling capacity of the sector.

“We have a lot to do in terms of enhancing recycling capacity. Many owners don’t want to move to enhanced recycling, due to the huge cost,” Rubel adds.  

Nonetheless, Rubel asserts that things have improved greatly in the recent past due to environmental laws, improving business conditions, buyers’ requirements and government monitoring and support. He says that the ready-made garment sector has now reached its highest-ever compliance with environmental requirements.

According to the BGMEA, the country’s clothing sector currently has 178 factories that hold certificates for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design from the US Green Building Council. This rating system is used to determine the environmental performance of a building.

Rubel claims that the audit mechanism and automation in obtaining environmental clearance from the Department of Environment is a transparent process that cannot be manipulated, referring to online monitoring and submission of documents. He says this has contributed to the improved factory environment for clothing manufacturers, such as the increasing number of green factories, in Bangladesh.

The Third Pole contacted Abdul Hamid, the director-general of the Department of Environment, who declined to comment. Officials in his department also declined to comment.