The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) eyes importing scrapped clothes to make recycled apparel items from them as their demand is on the rise globally.
Usually, Bangladesh exports scrapped clothing items through informal channels as they are not used by local manufacturers to a large extent.
But the demand for apparel items made from recycled clothing items is increasing globally owing to consumers’ growing awareness about the impact of the apparel supply chain on the environment.
For example, globally, the fashion industry is responsible for 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions, with textile production alone estimated to release 1.2 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere every year.
The fashion industry is responsible for 20% of global wastewater.
Recycled clothing items can save the environment since their production would involve less water and energy consumption.
“We export jhoot (scrapped) clothes but the time has come to import them to make garments from them in order to save the environment,” said Faruque Hassan, president of the BGMEA, at a press conference on the recently concluded Made in Bangladesh Week at the Hotel InterContinental in Dhaka.
Moreover, Bangladesh also wants to export $100 billion worth of garment items by 2030 and the BGMEA is preparing a roadmap to achieve the target.
The country wants to raise its stake in the global garment market to 14% from 6.26% now.
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