Bangladesh: BGMEA signs PaCT 2nd phase with IFC for green production
The International Finance
Corporation (IFC) recently signed a pact with the Bangladesh Garment
Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) to implement the second
Partnership for Cleaner Textile (PaCT) in 250 spinning, dyeing and finishing units.
Started in 2013, PaCT advises factories to adopt modern technologies and reduce
water and energy consumption.
The IFC will spend $7 million for implementing
the second phase of the programme. The first one was implemented in 215
factories at a cost of $11 million, according to Bangladesh media reports. PaCT is the largest textile-based resource
efficiency programme in the world, according to Alexios Pantelias, manager of
energy and water advisory services of the IFC, the World Bank’s arm that lends
to the private sector.
Despite having one of the lowest per capita
carbon dioxide emissions, Bangladesh has stepped up its environmental sustainability initiatives, he said. At present, Bangladesh has 67 green
garment factories, and 280 more are in the pipeline, said BGMEA president
Siddiqur Rahman, who signed the agreement with IFC countrymanager Wendy Jo Werner. The other benefits of the programme include
better productivity, investment with higher return and cleaner environment for
community, said Nishat Shahid Chowdhury, IFC programme manager for PaCT.
In its first phase, PaCT helped save 21.6
billion litres of water, which is equivalent to average annual water use for
840,000 people in Bangladesh. It also saved 2.5 million megawatt hours of
energy per year, equivalent to 5.4 per cent of total national grid output of
Bangladesh in 2015-2016, Chowdhury added. During the second phase, IFC is targeting to
save 32 million cubic litres of water annually and 3.8 million megawatt hours
of electricity in 250 weaving, spinning, wet dyeing and finishing factories. It
aims to annually reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 701,588 tonnes, wastewater
discharge by 28.8 million cubic litres and chemical use by 10,000 tonnes.
Source: Prothom Alo, Bangladesh
Wednesday, 04 October 2017