Pretreatment facilities at tanneries can help get LWG certificate: CPD study

All tanneries connected to the Central Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) could use pretreatment facilities at factory premises to help meet the environmental parameters to be certified by the Leather Working Group (LWG), recommended a new study report.

The study by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) said tanneries could treat the discharged effluent before the waste reaches the CETP at Hemayetpur of Savar in Dhaka and significantly improve the central treatment faclity’s performance.

This will help meet the environmental parameters of the Department of Environment (DoE) which is one of the minimum criteria to be LWG certified.

Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem, research director of CPD, presented the study report titled ‘Investment in ESQ compliance to be LWG certified: costs, benefits and way forwards for Bangladesh tannery industry’ at a dialogue organised by Asia Foundation at Pan-pacific Sonargaon Hotel on Wednesday.

Currently, Bangladesh has one effective chrome recovery unit in the Hemayetpur CETP, according to the study report. While the unit is capable of separating chrome from the waste, it is not capable of recovering the chromium.

Speaking at the dialogue, experts said the demand for Bangladeshi leather has decreased in the global market. This had a major impact on the leather sector. In order to boost the industry, it needs the LWG certificate as well as ensure Environmental, Social, and Quality (ESQ) compliance.

Citing industry leaders, the study report said ESQ compliance is a prerequisite for accreditation, export, and trade. However, longstanding and emerging bottlenecks, including loss of business impacting financial status and credit rating of tanneries, tanners’ lack of access to financing have prevented tanneries from making progress in obtaining certification.

The best practices needed for LWG certification are CETP, solid waste management, waste recycling, tanning technologies, research and development, and trade promotion, the report noted.

For instance, tanneries in India use similar procedures as Bangladesh in collecting raw materials from different parts of the country and have a similar tanning culture. But India has improved to get LWG certification.