When will tannery sector come of age?

Though the leather sector has shown slight improvement in export performance in FY 23 at USD1.12 billion compared to the previous FY's USD1.11 billion, still the sector's growth is not at the expected level. And with Bangladeshi apparel products facing increasing challenges in the international market, diversification of export is now an imperative. However, despite the leather sector's immense export potential as Bangladesh contributes 5 per cent to the global stock of leather, it has a long way to go to become a substitute for apparel. The reason is the sector is not getting the required attention either from the entrepreneurs or from the policymakers in the government. In fact, to be a viable export earner, the industry should be able to earn international recognition as a producer of quality leather and leather goods. To that end, it needs to obtain certification from the Leather Working Group (LWG), which is a platform of brands, retailers, manufacturers, suppliers and other stakeholders of the international leather sector. But except 4 factories, which are not located in the Tannery Industrial Estate (TIE) in Savar, some 140 units in TIE, have no certificate from LWG. As a result, their products cannot access the international market. Notably, the tanneries, which were originally located in the city's Hazaribagh area, started shifting to the TIE in 2016. This was in line with a plan conceived in 2003 to protect the city, especially the Buriganga river that flows past it from severe pollution caused by tannery waste from the factories. However, the actual relocation began after a long delay as is the usual practice in implementing any project in this part of the world. In the same way, the Central Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) set up at TIE to treat wastes from the relocated tannery units was also found to be operating below its expected capacity.
In this connection, a research done recently by the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) based on information from some 109 factories at TIE, tried to identify the factors coming in the way of those tannery units' becoming LWG compliant. The findings of the research showed that 85 per cent of the TIE's tannery units did not carry out social auditing which is about meeting the requirements of social responsibility such as its endeavours, procedures, code of conduct and its impact on society. The BSCIC research also found that half of the TIE's tannery factories do not measure the level of chromium their tanned leather contains. Neither do 70 per cent of the tanneries in TIE maintain a register of the hazardous chemicals they use during processing of leather. Some of those factories did not obtain No Objection Certificate (NoC) from the Department of Environment (DoE), while others have no permission from appropriate authorities to buy and preserve chemicals. And regarding water use, those tanneries were found to have crossed the limit of using 30 cubic metres of water to produce every tonne of raw leather, according to Environment Conservation Rules (ECR) of 1997. However, tannery industry leaders pointed to the CETP's lack of capacity to explain away many of the sector's failures, the inability to procure LWG certification being one. Whatever the excuses, unless the tannery units improve their standards, the CETP operates according to its expected capacity and the environment-polluting solid wastes are duly managed, the tannery sector may not be able to play its role as a potential export sector after the apparel.

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