Bangladesh RMG's commitment to sustainability: are we ready yet?

The Ready-made Garment (RMG) industry has become the bedrock of Bangladesh's economy, contributing about 10.35 per cent to the country's GDP in 2023. With exponential growth over the decades, Bangladesh is the second largest RMG exporter in the world. Approximately 30 million Bangladeshi people are directly or indirectly dependent on the RMG sector as it helps create employment, especially for women, and reduces poverty. Bangladesh's garment industry's global success is attributed to its abundant, cost-effective labour force, low wage, and participation in international trade agreements, which attracted international companies and manufacturers, giving rise to a supply of sustained demand and affordable clothing worldwide. However, this industry faces challenges such as labour rights, workplace safety, and environmental sustainability.
RMG AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY: AN OVERVIEW: The ready-made garments industry poses a huge threat to the environment due to excessive use of water, toxic chemicals and tonnes of energy in the production process. This has given rise to increased environmental awareness and sustainable practices are being adopted by the industry owners. Many factories have started implementing eco-friendly practices in order to lower their carbon footprint. Some sustainable practices include upgrading to energy-efficient technologies, using recycled materials, implementing water and waste management strategies, and reducing water consumption. However, still these initiatives failed to enhance sustainability in this sector.
Fast fashion, an important component in the global fashion industry, creates trendy apparel at low rates, raising environmental and ethical concerns such as pollution, waste, and detrimental working conditions, influencing consumer behaviour and sustainability initiatives. Such cost and time-effective business practices, despite the environmental harm associated with them, created the channel of human dependency on the RMG industry for convenience and economic gains.After the shipment of finished goods, cutting wastage increases due to increased demand for fast fashion creating more variations in waste production. Such practices threaten environmental sustainability, especially when a lead time reduction from 90 days to 40 days occurred to cater to fast fashion, causing the regeneration of waste materials to happen every 10 weeks. This means, waste generation rises by approximately 20-30 percent.
Governments worldwide have enacted several laws and policies to promote environmental sustainability and limit resource extortion in the RMG sector. For example, Bangladesh's Environmental Conservation Act (ECA) requires industries to install their own Environmental Treatment Plants (ETP). Additionally, the Textile Policy of 2017 particularly promotes sustainability by ensuring water conservation, energy efficiency and proper waste management systems within the RMG sector. The government also allows tax benefits and incentives for industries supporting green initiatives. Such sustainability initiatives are found in many other countries, such as the Indonesian government made provisions for zero waste in textiles, which requires textile manufacturers to recycle the water used in production processes and manage their solid waste efficiently. Similarly, the German parliament passed the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG) in June 2021, which focuses on environmental sustainability and human rights. The country's companies will be held liable if they are found to have been directly or indirectly linked to environmental and human rights abuses in their global supply chain. As one of the main suppliers of RMG products, implementation of such laws impacts the RMG sector in Bangladesh and allows the industries to be more transparent, adopt more sustainable practices and ensure the protection of human rights. An industry needs to be ISO certified to operate business both at home and abroad. ISO certification helps ensure workplace safety, and environmental considerations are taken into account. However, despite having the ISO certification, implementation of the policies ceases to exist in many factories which raises the question of our moral trade-off.
RMG AND SUSTAINABILITY IN BANGLADESH: Like many other labour-intensive industries in Bangladesh critical accidents in RMG is also a very common phenomenon which mostly results from inadequacy, corruption, and weak enforcement of laws by government institutions. Despite government investigations and recommendations, no significant and sustainable improvements have developed as yet. The sector's growing social structure promotes company interests over workplace safety, revealing a lack of democratic accountability and weak national law enforcement. Many of the large industries are owned by government personnel, meaning that corruption frequently allows concerns to be pushed under the carpet. Many industries do not get Environmental Impact Assessments (EMA) done before building their factories which impacts the surrounding environment in the long run. The Environmental Conservation Act and ETPs have been planned to ensure environmental compliance in the industries. And to ensure proper implementation of the laws and protection of human rights, the government should strengthen the monitoring and evaluation processes on a timely basis.
BANGLADESH GOVERNMENT MEASURES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY IN RMG: The Government offers several green incentives for the factory owners who are environmentally sustainable and conscious. Some examples of fiscal incentives include- a 1 per cent corporate tax break for green factory owners, RMG industries with green building certification can pay their income tax rate at 10 per cent while non green building certified companies pay 12 per ent. Other efforts include European Union's Programme to Finance Safety Retrofits & Environmental Upgrades in the Bangladeshi Ready-Made Garment (RMG) Sector (SREUP), a programme designed to help the Bangladesh garment factories implement safety retrofits, environmental and social up-gradation measures. Hence, it is important for the government to ensure that the industries are compliant with the laws and regulations through constant monitoring and evaluation processes and ensure a transparent system throughout the supply chain.
WAY FORWARD TO ENSURE ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY IN RMG:
Environmental Management System (EMS): It is crucial to have an improved Environmental Management System (EMS) at every RMG factory since they pose a threat to environmental impacts. EMS can determine significant environmental aspects and proper action can be taken to minimize the impact. This can also enhance the compliance of the organization.
Enhancing Corporate Accountability: It is important to enhance corporate accountability in order to ensure sustainability by providing annual reports that highlights the environmental impacts and their initiatives towards minimising them. This can also assist in implementing effective EMS with the proper monitoring and evaluation systems which increases transparency and accountability within the organisation. Many of the current industries are owned by corrupt politicians and influential people, which opens a gateway for the organisations to commit more environmental crimes by overlooking the importance of such reports.
Environmental performance indicators (EPI): EPIs can provide information about the management efforts to influence the organisation's environmental performance. This allows room for identifying the organisation's lackings and makes room for growth while promoting sustainable practices.
Legal and policy requirements: The government encourages factories to obtain LEED certification, adhere to global supply chain due diligence standards, and manage waste effectively. The country is also a signatory to several ILO conventions, promoting decent work, sustainable production, and environmental health in industries. The National Industrial Policy, 2022 prioritises the establishment of green factories and adherence to environmental compliance standards, which should be encouraged to be implemented. Moreover, it is important to introduce and implement green economy, circular economy and appropriate transition policies to promote sustainability. It is also crucial for the country to maintain global due diligence standards.
Concluding Remarks: Corruption in Bangladesh's RMG sector has hindered environmental sustainability efforts, with issues like bribery and lack of accountability hindering progress. However, ensuring sustainability is critical for competitiveness and meeting the rising demand for sustainable practices. Bangladesh has the potential to develop its RMG industry into a global example for sustainable industrial growth by improving regulatory frameworks, encouraging innovation, green certifications, and increasing resource efficiency. Collaboration between the government, industry leaders, workers, and international stakeholders is critical to achieving this transition.

Nuzhat Fatima Purnota is a Research Assistant and Student at Department of Environmental Science and Management, Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB). purnota1226@gmail.com
Dr. Md Shanawez Hossain is an Associate Professor, Department of Global Studies & Governance, Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB); shanawez@gmail.com