Achievement of LEED Gold Certification by Bengal Plastic, a leading plastic products manufacturer of the country, would encourage other companies in the industry to develop compliant and green production chains, said a director of Bengal Group.
He said the compliance is expected to help prepare the industry to face challenges after the country's graduation from the least developed country (LDC) status.
"The plastic industry as a whole will be encouraged from our achievements," Humayun Kabir Bablu, Director of Bengal Plastic, said in an interview with the FE on Thursday.
Explaining the importance of the certification, he said: "It's a Green Certificate. We installed new equipment to reduce the extent of wasting energy. We have been wasting too much energy by using outdated equipment for a long time."
To get 'Green Factories' recognition, he said, the group worked on every aspect of energy efficiency, sustainable site construction, indoor environmental quality, and waste reduction. "We can now enter the US market thanks to the certification."
Mr Bablu said this certification is being provided to Bengal by a Sri Lankan consulting company.
"We have been working hard for the last four years to achieve this certification, spending an estimated cost of US$37,000," he said, adding that the certification process took 7-8 months.
The Bengal Group Director said that Bangladesh has a very low volume of consumers for plastic products apparently due to a negative mindset about the industry.
Everybody has a mindset that plastic products are bad for the environment, she said, adding that the environment compliance certification will help change the mindset.
He said many people do not know that plastic is good for the environment. "Plastic furniture and home appliances contribute to reducing the cutting of the trees."
With recycling and the green compliance production process, the plastic goods are environmentally friendly, said the Bengal Group director.
LEED Certification is a certificate of building an environmentally friendly factory and it is a set of rating systems for building design operation and maintenance, developed by the US Green Building Council. These buildings are usually constructed with health and productivity in mind.
Bengal Plastics Limited builds environment-friendly factories by following all their rules and regulations. It is the first LEED certificate among the plastic products makers in South Asia and Bangladesh.
Bengal implemented measures like energy-efficient lighting, rainwater harvesting and tree plantation that have shown strong promise to reduce its environmental footprint.
"This is a milestone achievement by Bengal Plastics Limited," said Mr Bablu, adding that many other plastic industries in the country will follow the way of Bengal in future.
He said the group would not stop there and would continue its efforts to achieve Platinum Certification by implementing a tougher set of conditions for establishing green factories.
Mr Bablu said the government of Bangladesh has granted Tk 16.5 million fund from the exchequer to facilitate the certification process as it wants the factories here to be green and compliant.
Bengal Plastics Limited is one of the most popular and largest hanger manufacturers. It produces more than two million pieces of hangers every day to export to various countries around the world.
The company has been awarded with the National Export Trophy in the Gold Category for 13 consecutive years for their achievements.
It manufactures most of the hangers for Manati, the world's largest manufacturing company, with 50 distribution centres in 28 countries.
It also manufactures plastic hangers for famous retail brands like Walmart, Kohl's, Levi's, Kontoor, VF, JCPenney, Carters, Primark, etc.
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