The Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) has recommended dedicated chilling systems and effluent treatment plants (ETPs) for tanneries, which would help the leather industry bounce back from years of setback arising from lack of compliance.
These are part of 30 recommendations provided in a study titled, “Guidelines for Achieving Compliance to Protect National Resource Leather Industry,” conducted recently by BSCIC’s Planning and Research Division.
The study points out that despite having enough domestic supply, the tanneries suffer a lack of Leather Working Group (LWG) certification and necessary compliance, which in turn denotes an absence of adequate planning and proper management.
Such issues are greatly hampering the potential of local leather industry, and preventing this sector from getting fair prices and much needed growth in exports. This industry is spiraling downwards instead of achieving its true potential.
Currently, only three tanneries in Bangladesh have the LWG certification. Among these, only RIFF Leather uses local rawhide following all necessary processes. The other two – Apex Footwear and ABC Leather – are importing leather to produce their export goods.
A lack of compliance among local tanneries is preventing these companies from exporting leather goods made with locally sourced rawhide.
Under such circumstances, the Bangladesh government has recently permitted the export of rawhide, and 20 tanneries have been selected for the LWG certification process. These selected tanneries have already undergone gap analysis.
Of the 20 selected, 14 have all the necessary facilities to get LWG certification, but lack dedicated ETPs. Having fully operational CETPs is a mandatory requirement for getting LWG certification.
The lack of such a crucial facility is depriving Bangladesh of foreign currency, as the LWG certification is a must for attracting foreign brands and gaining a stronger foothold in the international market.
A lack of certification also deprives local tanneries of fair prices for processed rawhide.
LWG certification criteria
The LWG protocol has a total score of 1710 under 17 modules. Five modules – compliance, waste management, liquid waste treatment, health and safety, and chemical management – have 150 points each, totaling 750.
Tanneries operating in the Savar Leather Industrial Park are doing poorly in terms of such scores, which is preventing them from achieving the LWG certification.
Another eight key modules – factory operation permit, production information, environmental management practices, energy usage, water usage, air and noise pollution, operational management and subcontracting – have 800 points.
Moreover, social audit and identification of raw materials have 100 points, and outbound product identification has 60.
The certification however has no score in the factory general information module. Sub-contracting, raw material and outbound product identification have 210 score, but they are non-critical. So, failing these modules will not prevent a factory from achieving certification.
A tannery will be able to get certified as long as it achieves minimum score in other modules. LWG will certify a factory bronze for achieving 65 per cent of the score, silver for 75 per cent, and gold for 85 per cent.
Analysing data, BSCIC Planning and Research Division Director, and also Research Committee Convener Md Ahsan Kabir showed that a multitude of factors is preventing the tannery industry from achieving compliance.
The key issues are – a lack of concept among tannery owners regarding leather industry compliance, inefficient central effluent treatment plants (CEPTs), mismanagement of solid waste, and poor conditions inside tanneries.
BSCIC has made a series of recommendations – compiled from tannery owners’ opinions and research committee observations – to help tanneries achieve the compliance necessary for getting LWG certification.
BSCIC recommendations
During the three-month peak season, after Eid-ul-Azha celebrations, nearly half of the annual consumption of leather is tanned. The rest is processed in the remaining nine months. This means, there is a sizable difference of effluent during peak and off peak seasons.
This results in CEPTs taking additional pressure during peak seasons. A chilling system owned by the state or private companies could help extend the peak season from three to five months. It will help extend the rawhide processing period, and curb the liquid waste volume in peak seasons.
CEPTs will also be able to keep up with the production rush during this period.
BSCIC recommends relatively larger tanneries to build their own ETPs, or form a cluster of six-seven tanneries, then install an ETP for their use. Larger tanneries should also install dedicated chrome-recovery units. Besides, both small and large tanneries should reuse chrome.
Open dumping yards should take preventive measures to prevent solid waste from contaminating the nearby River Dhaleshwari and ground water.
Solid waste, that cannot be recycled or used for making byproducts, must be disposed of in a safe landfill. Dry waste should be incinerated using an environmentally friendly method.
It should be noted that CEPTs are run using physical, chemical and biological processes, and these facilities need electricity 24/7 to operate. Frequent load-shedding is having a negative impact on the biological treatment process.
Power outages also hamper the processing of rawhide, and increase chances of wastage. All these issues are causing leather production to decrease. So, the government must ensure uninterrupted supply of electricity and gas in the Savar Leather Industry.
The BSCIC can also form a special team to help tanneries achieve compliance.
A prerequisite for LWG certification is the effluent distribution system. To implement this requirement correctly, every tannery must keep a register for inbound rawhide.
The regulator can then take action against tanneries that overuse water and go to overcapacity in terms of production. A compliance officer must be appointed to each tannery to help ensure compliance.
BSCIC recommendations further state that under the environmental protection regulations, the existing CEPT does not have the necessary scale to process tannery industry liquid waste under different parameters.
A reverse osmosis plant is required to achieve full compliance with the LWG. However, installing this plant is expensive. The BSCIC recommended amending parameters under the environmental protection regulations.
Moreover, after installing a reverse osmosis plant, effluent treated by the CEPT can be reused by tanneries and brick kilns, instead of releasing the waste into the river.
Industry opinion
Despite shifting the tanneries from Hazaribagh to Savar, the leather industry is still struggling to make noticeable progress.
Speaking to The Business Post, Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA) President Shaheen Ahmed said, “The leather industry in Savar is yet to see any success despite a large amount of investments.
“The Leather Industrial Park in Savar should be transferred from BSCIC to Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) or Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority (BEPZA) for building a compliant industry.”
BTA General Secretary Sakhawat Ullah said, “If only 25 of the tanneries in Savar manage to get LWG certification, our export earnings from the leather industry will more than double. We can fix problems with the CETP and solid waste management to easily reach this goal.
“The government can take up a special project to solve this issue.”
He continued, “A Chinese contractor left the CEPT construction unfinished. It was fined as well. Instead of giving the work to another Chinese firm, we should appoint a good European company to finish the incomplete CEPT. This will resolve this ongoing issue.”
Department of Environment data shows that the leather industry in Savar produces 40,000 cubic metres of waste every day, against a waste management capacity of only 25,000 cubic meters.
This indicates that 15,000 cubic meters of waste is leaking into the local environment daily. In the last three years, 1.64 core cubic meters of waste remained unmanaged.
