DHAKA – A leading figure in the Bangladesh textile sector has urged his compatriots not to ‘cut corners’ on sustainability in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak and instead, use production downtime to consider environmental improvements within their operations.
“Many factories have downtime at the present,” Mostafiz Uddin, managing director of Denim Expert Ltd, told Ecotextile News. “Those that can afford to can use the present time to implement sustainable changes to their operations … the temptation to cut corners on these issues now will be huge. But I would urge our industry not to fall into this trap.”
Mostafiz notes that although the current, commercial situation for the country’s apparel industry is dire, now could be an opportune moment to reset and re-think how textiles are produced in Bangladesh when the pandemic subsides.
“They can look at introducing water-saving and harvesting technology, new energy saving techniques and more efficient and effective ways to lay out their operations,” he told us. “These are things owners are usually too busy to address in their day-to-day operations; now is the time to act on them, and such changes – if implemented correctly – would surely serve them well with customers when industry is back up and running.”
