Realising potential of leather industry

At a time when readymade garment (RMG) export from Bangladesh to the European Union (EU) market has surpassed that of China in terms of volume, though not in monetary value, the prime minister's office (PMO) directs all concerned to raise income from export of leather and leather goods to $5.0 billion. Right now export proceeds from this sector stand at only $1.7 billion and the PMO office is of the opinion that it should not take more than three to four years to reach the export target. Of the highly potential industrial sectors, leather and pharmaceutical industries stand the greatest chance of rivalling the country's number one export earner RMG and effectively help diversify the export basket. Sadly, the potential of these two sectors are yet to be exploited. In case of leather and leather goods, mishandling of some crucial matters such as inordinate delay in shifting tanneries from Hazaribagh to BSCIC Tannery Industrial Estate located in Hemayetpur, Savar and the fracas over the central effluent treatment plant (CETP) there have proved to be the greatest constraint.

In fact, the urgency of upgrading the environmental compliance of tanneries in the industrial estate by making the CETP fully functional was the main subject of deliberations at the meeting presided over by the prime minister's principal secretary at the PMO. All the stakeholders present there were apprised of the task ahead for each of the parties to achieve the intended goal. It appears from media reports from time to time that the Chinese firm responsible for the construction of the CETP botched up with designs or capacity equations. Months ago a local company claimed it could rectify the fault that has rendered the CETP either lame or for most part non-functional. That the government's claim for the CETP's readiness before the tanneries moved from Hazaribagh to Savar actually remained unsubstantiated and when the CETP proved a hotchpotch, the urgency to take care of it has been missing over the past six years.

The meeting at the PMO can be termed fruitful if the CETP, the central piece on which mainly depends compliance of the standards of the Leather Working Group (LWG), is refurbished or replaced within a reasonable timeframe. To fully comply with the LWG standards, it is also incumbent on the factories to manage solid waste in an eco-friendly manner. In this connection, at least one factory named Superex Leather, claimed to be the largest tannery in the country with a daily leather processing capacity of 80,000 sq feet,  located in Fultola, Khulna has made its own arrangement for effluent treatment plant (ETP) and for solid waste management. Italian machines and technology are its mainstay.

Sure enough, if some of the big names in leather and leather goods sector did not have to move to the Savar leather estate, they could install their own ETP and earn the highly cherished LWG certificate. The Superex Leather is expecting a visit of its factory by a LWG team and a certificate soon. This certificate is key to exporting processed leather to world famous brands like Adidas, Puma and Gucci. Local manufacturers of leather goods will also enjoy the right to export to markets that emphasise the environmentally-friendly manufacturing criteria. For the country's own environmental concern too, groundwork by leather units for obtaining the LWG certificate should be given the highest priority. Transfer of pollution from Hazaribagh-Buriganga to Savar-Dhaleswari has already caused irreparable environmental damage.