Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) organized a one-day seminar titled 'Effect of Tannery Waste on Environment: What to Do in Transition' on Wednesday for the owners, working managers, officials and interested entrepreneurs of different tanneries in the country.
BSCIC Chairman Mahbubur Rahman was present as the chief guest in the said seminar. Directors of BSCIC were present as special guests. Dr Mizanur Rahman, Professor and Director, Institute of Leather Engineering and Technology, University of Dhaka presented the keynote. Prakoshli Shafiqul Alam, Principal, Basic Training Institute was present as the president of the seminar.
Savar has now become known as the city of tannery industry after the transfer of tanneries from Hazaribagh in Dhaka to Savar. There are many small leather factories in the area. On one hand these large number of leather factories are playing an important role in our economic development but on the other hand, it is posing a dangerous threat to environmental pollution.
Dr Mizanur Rahman, the presenter of the main article, said that proper environmental management, liquid and solid waste management is necessary to export leather to America and the European Union. To be a compliance tannery, one must have a Leather Working Group (LWG) certificate. Protease enzymes can be produced using rawhide trimmings in difficult litter management. This enzyme can be used in leather processing. Besides, furniture boards can be made from chrome saving dust. In the discussion, BSCIC chairman said that relationship of trust should be created between BSCIC and industrial owners. Owners must follow the rules. Various tanneries are developing CPT in Savar. To build an industrial city, there will be land workers, location, transport. He encouraged industrial owners to work according to plan in terms of production. The development of the people of the country will be possible if the industry is developed. Above all, he attaches importance to the development of the country. Mostak Ahmed, Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Industry said, the leather industry area is highly toxic. Tannery owners need to be aware. He proposed to adopt a plan on how solid wastes can be made into finished products like developed countries.
In his speech, Shafiqul Alam said that the chemicals used in the leather industry such as: Cr, Cadmium etc. are heavy metals and are very harmful to humans. He said, if the product or product is harmful to people, it cannot be bought even if it is of good quality. Failure to comply with industrial plant compliance will result in the destruction of the industrial plant.
As a result of participating in the seminar organized by Basic Training Institute (BTI), the owners, working managers, officers and interested CSME entrepreneurs of different tanneries in the country have learned about the environmental friendly management of tannery waste and what to do to solve the problems and it is expected that they can prepare themselves accordingly.