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$ 16.3m green tech saved $39m

Thanks to a 4-year project involving 200 garment factories

Star Business Report
Some 200 textile, washing and garment factories have annually saved 21.6 billion litres of water and 2.5 million megawatts of electricity by adopting green technologies, according to findings of a project of International Finance Corporation.
They have also reduced emissions of greenhouse gases by 4.6 lakh tonnes and of waste water by 18.8 billion litres, according to officials involved in the project, the Partnership for Cleaner Textile (PaCT).
Investing only $16.3 million to adopt the green technologies, these factories saved $39 million between 2013 and 2017, they said.
A similar Toward Resource Efficiency & Environmental Sustainability (TREES) project was undertaken by the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) in which 17 small and medium washing, dyeing and garment factories spent Tk 78.73 lakh.
Between 2014 and 2016, these factories saved 90.76 litres of water and 10.13 lakh kilowatts of electricity while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 323 tonnes in one year, said Mohammad Monower Hossain, senior deputy secretary (environment) to the BGMEA.
Hossain was presenting a keynote paper on "Energy efficiency - overcoming challenges and driving change in the garment industry" at a workshop on the "importance of energy efficiency in garment sector and its influence in environment, society and gender".
Infrastructure Development Company Limited (Idcol), audit, tax and advisory service provider KPMG and Brae University jointly organised the workshop at the Sonargaon hotel in Dhaka yesterday to create awareness about green climate funds and technologies.
Hossain suggested factory owners borrow money from a $200 million green fund of Bangladesh Bank and adopt the green technologies.
Though many entrepreneurs have already benefitted, the central back should alter some rules to allow small and medium factories to avail the fund, he said.
The Idcol proposed mobilising $250 million for the central bank fund, of which $150 million is expected to be sourced as concessional funding from Green Climate Fund.
Green Climate Fund was established within the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to assist developing countries in adaptation and mitigation practices to counter climate change.
The remaining $100 million will be co-financed by potential local financial institutions and equity contributions from garment sector borrowers, according to an Idcol statement.
The Idcol in a statement said its programme aims to support the garment sector by providing loans to factory owners and business establishments for purchasing energy saving equipment and technology.
Professor Emeritus Ainun Nishat of the Centre for Climate Change and Environmental Research moderated the workshop and Abdullah Al Mohsin Chowdhury, secretary to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, also spoke.