ja_mageia

The Re-Tie Bangladesh (Reduction of environmental threats and increase of exportability of Bangladeshi leather products) aims at enabling local leather-based industry to sustain conversion of locally available raw hides and skins into exportable products, either directly as genuine leather or as derived finished product. This will provide employment and income opportunities for the increasing population of Bangladesh without jeopardizing the livelihood of the surrounding human settlements through environmental degradation threatening their rapidly depleting water sources and agricultural land. This Action intends to prepare SMEs from the leather sector to produce ecology-friendly products which are easier to export to Europe and fulfill requirements set by European importers in line with international environmental agreements.

Therefore the overall objective of this project is the provision of employment and income opportunities in environmentally sustainable SMEs in the leather sector in Bangladesh.

The specific objective is to facilitate SMEs of the leather industry to work economically and ecologically more successful and more sustainable with the use of aligned technologies and practices.

Leather tanneries in Bangladesh produce all three categories of waste: wastewater, solid waste and air emissions. However, wastewater and solid wastes are by far the most important environmental challenge being faced by Bangladesh's tanneries. In addition water consumption is unnecessarily high due to little enforced water resource control and free access to water. Also chemicals, energy and other inputs are being consumed at a too high rate.

A more efficient use of natural resources and energy and significantly reduced environmental pollution and waste in the Bangladeshi leather sector is possible. Many projects have been working on this and fairly simple tools and methods have been developed.

The motivation for SMEs to produce in a cleaner way is therefore the increased exportability of their products and a cost reduction due to a reduction of inputs (chemicals, energy etc.). The Bangladeshi leather sector should aim at more value addition in country. More processing requires more application of and adherence to standards in order to be able to export these manufactured leather goods.

If the problems are spelled out and solutions are in sight the remaining challenges are to disseminate innovation, facilitate application and to reach out to the entrepreneurs and to create a more supportive or even enforcing regulatory framework.

The activities foreseen in this project are the necessary bearings to lever known solutions to many SMEs in the sector and to facilitate a more supportive CP (regulatory) environment.