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This is unfortunate for Bangladesh as leather is among a handful of products that offers exporters the scope for nearly 100 per cent value-addition as raw materials are entirely available in domestic markets.

Another price being paid for the lack of a well-equipped CETP is that the environment around the STIE is being polluted.

Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, director of the ILET, said it is not possible to go ahead with the existing CETP as it was constructed without following the proper design.

Besides, the technology used in building the CETP is not valid in most parts of the world nowadays.

Citing a paper of the ILET, Rahman said it is possible to reduce chemical usage in the washing of rawhide by 30 per cent using enzymes innovated by their researchers.

It is also possible to produce biodiesel and fertiliser from rawhide waste, he said, adding that his institute has already applied for a patent on the innovation.

Md Shakawat Ullah, general secretary of the Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA), said tanners currently pay Tk 1 crore as an electricity bill for using the CETP, which means the facility is running.

However, the solid waste management facility is less than 1 per cent operational, he added.

Md Akhtaruzzaman, vice chancellor of the University of Dhaka, said the production of biodiesel from rawhide waste is also producing green energy.

The leather and leather goods industries have been playing a vital role in the economy, which must not be marred by bureaucratic tangles, he added.

Kazi Faisal Bin Seraj, country representative of The Asia Foundation, also spoke at the seminar.