Retailers annoyed with non-compliance of environmental norms
28 Oct '09
2 min read
The textile and apparel exporters of Bangladesh are facing flax from their overseas buyers, for the delay in implementing internationally recognised compliances like setting up of effluent treatment plants (ETP's), to control environmental pollution.
These companies are following other compliances like not employing child labour etc, but the pace in setting up of ETP's is very slow and a majority of textile and particularly wet processing units have not erected the same, say experts.
The earlier government had made it mandatory to set up ETP's particularly in the dyeing and printing units before June 30, 2009, but as per a Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) survey, 205 of the nearly 1,300 units need to set up such plants.
The BTMA had requested the government to set up four common ETP's in the industrial areas of Dhaka, Narsingdi, Savar and Joydevpur, on the plea that, small textile units are not in a position to invest the huge investments needed for setting up such plants.
The State Minister for Environment, Mr Hasan Mahmud, while speaking at a conference titled 'The Politics of Climate Change and Energy Security' in Denmark on October 11, said that the government will shut down the factories that will not set up ETPs.