The top three environment-friendly garment and textile factories in the world are located in Bangladesh, keeping pace with the growing demand of green factories worldwide. Envoy Textiles, Remi Holdings and Plummy Fashions have taken the garment and textile factories of Bangladesh to new heights. Envoy Textiles is the first denim-producing green factory in the world. Remi Holdings tops as a green garment factory, and Plummy Fashion ranks first as a green knitwear factory. Envoy Textiles is situated in Mymensingh and the rest in Narayanganj.
The working environment of knitwear and garment industries of Bangladesh faced stern criticism worldwide after Rana Plaza building collapse tragedy. Bangladeshi knitwear and garment factory owners are now leaning towards constructing green factories.Envoy Textiles invested Tk 14 billion, Remi Holdings Tk 1.2 billion and Plummy Fashions Tk 2.4 billion.These green factories have less carbon emission, higher production, and save more gas, electricity and water compared to other factories Bangladesh has a total of 32 green factories. More than 100 green factories are under construction. The US Green Building Council (USGBC) gives LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certificates to the green factories if the projects satisfy certain requirements and earn points to achieve different levels of certification. In order to qualify for the certificate, a project has to ensure the highest standard of building construction.
An LEED certificate requires factories to meet its nine prerequisites — construction materials that create less carbon emission, hi-tech machinery for production, saving electricity, preserving rainwater, having enough space for constructing other buildings and ensuring housing facilities, schools, bazaars, and bus stands for the workers within 500 square miles of the factory. So far, a total of 79,600 projects in 161 countries have received LEED certificates. Thirty garment, textile and washing factories in Bangladesh have received LEED certificates so far. Vintage Denim Studio is the first factory to get LEED Platinum certificate in 2012. Shruti Textile Mills achieved the LEED Gold Certificate.Genesis Fashions and Genesis Washing received LEED PlatinumCertificate. Osman Interlinings in Dhaka EPZ received LEED Gold Certificate. Tosrifa Industries of Northern Tosrifa Group achieved the LEED Gold Certificate. Two factories of BITOPI Group have LEED Gold Certificate. These are Remi Holdings and Tarasima Apparels. SQ Group has three LEED Platinum Certificates for three of its factories-SQ Birichina, SQ Collblanc and SQ Celsius-2. SQ Celsius has an LEED Gold Certificate.
Envoy Textiles of Envoy Group has an LEED Platinum Certificate. Regency Garments (unit-1) of Chittagong EPZ has an LEED Gold Certificate. It is a US organisation. Green Textiles has a certified recognition.
The AKH ECO Apparels factory of AKH Group has an LEED Gold Certificate. Epic Garments Manufacturing Factory of Epic Group has an LEED Silver Certificate. The factory is in Adamjee EPZ in Narayanganj. Two other organisations of the same group have LEED Silver Certificates. Epic Group is a Hong Kong based company. Plummy Fashions has an LEED Platinum. Sri Lankan firm Univogue has a garment factory in Chittagong EPZ and that has LEED Gold. Epyllion Style Factory of Epyllion Group in Gazipur also received the LEED Gold.
Viyellatex in Gazipur has an LEED Gold Certificate. The Saiham Knit Composite in Habiganj has an LEED Silver.
Four factories of Sri Lanka’s Kenpark in Chittagong and Karnafuli EPZ received the LEED’s gold certificates.Another Sri Lankan factory named Hela Clothing was awarded gold certificate by LEED. Valtex International BD Ltd also obtained gold certification from LEED.BGMEA president Siddiqur Rahman said, “Environment-friendly factories have been established in the country, meeting the best compliance standards of the world. Now 150 factories are being readied as environment-friendly ones. That will increase confidence of buyers in our clothing industries. It will expand business as well.”
