Business Desk :
Bangladesh has the potential to produce $1.2 billion worth of recycled textile and garment items as the country has a big production base of cotton fibre made clothing items, according to a new study by the Global Fashion Agenda (GFA) and the McKinsey & Company.
In total, six major manufacturing countries-Vietnam, Turkey, India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh- have $4.5 billion market opportunity in this post-industrial recycling opportunity, according to McKinsey’s analysis.
These are all markets with high viability for such a model, given the economic significance of the textile industry and the commitment of policymakers to support the sector. “There is huge economic potential to scale this model beyond Bangladesh,” according to the Circular Fashion Partnership (CFP) Scaling Circularity Report.
Less than 1 per cent of material used to produce clothing is recycled into new clothing, representing a loss of more than $100 billion worth of materials each year, said the study that was launched virtually on Monday.
The government will remain with the project although there will be a lot of challenges to implement it in the country, said Faiyaz Murshid Kazi, director general of the foreign ministry’s wing for west Europe and European Union.
The apparel industry of Bangladesh has been showing its resilience even during the time of pandemic, he said.
Circular materials are key to ensuring a more sustainable fashion industry as 40 per cent of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions come from material production.
Based on reverse resources analysis, 35 per cent of total waste from fibre to garment production is lost during production.
From November 2020 until November 2021, the CFP has mapped and traced 1,013 tonnes of textile waste on the Reverse Resources platform (0.2 per cent of waste in Bangladesh), now regularly tracing over 200 tonnes a month.
