#Title

Bangladesh’s leather exports to benefit from CETP upgrade

Industry people urge efforts from both government and tanners
JAGARAN CHAKMA
The government up until now has allowed two tanneries of Apex and Bay Leather to set up their own effluent treatment plants and other companies are waiting for permission for theirs as well, according to industry people.
The move comes as a part of the government’s efforts to reduce pressure on the central effluent treatment plant (CETP) at the tannery industrial estate in Savar, Dhaka by encouraging the private firms to set up their own.
The government and tannery owners should both play a role in upgrading the CETP to realise the full potential of the leather sector through the expansion of the production of associated products, they said.
Bangladesh urgently needs to upgrade effluent treatment systems in the country in order for local leather companies to gain Leather Working Group (LWG) certification, they said.
The LWG is a global body for compliance and environmental certification in the leather and leather goods sector. The certificate is mandatory for market access to Europe, the US and some developed Asian countries.
The LWG certification will open new avenues for local manufacturers to use leather for the manufacture of exportable products, they added.
Till date, only five tanneries in the country have attained the LWG certification – Apex Tannery, Riff Leather, SAF Industries, Superex Leather, and ABC Leather.
As per data of Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA), there are around 200 tanneries in the country and 127 of them are based inside the estate.
These tanneries can collectively produce about 300 million square feet of finished and semi-finished leather each year.
Of all the leather produced, 80 percent is exported at low prices to China as local manufacturers cannot use the materials for manufacturing export products in the absence of the LWG certification.
“The CETP is in operation but cannot fully cover demand during the peak season after Eid-ul-Azha,” said Golam Shahnewaz, managing director of Dhaka Tannery Industrial Estate Waste Treatment Company.
“During the peak season, there is a demand to treat 40,000 cubic feet of effluent each day while the CETP has a capacity of up to 25,000 cubic feet,” he told The Daily Star yesterday.
At present, the CETP processes some 14,000 to 17,000 cubic feet of effluent per day.
Shahnaz also said there were two ways to increase the treatment capacity – through either government or private tanners’ initiatives.
According to him, a detailed project plan for upgrading the CETP’s capacity by at least 15,000 cubic feet is underway.
Shahnaz believes that there would be no obstacle for local leather companies to avail the LWG certifications once the CETP’s capacity was raised.
Abul Kalam Azad, president of Tannery Workers Union, said tannery owners should set up their own effluent treatment plants if they have the financial capacity so as to reduce pressure on the government and CETP.