Speakers at a roundtable discussion observed that the next five years will be crucial for the garments industries of Bangladesh.
They said under the EU strategies for sustainable and circular textiles, the garments producing countries must transition from linear to circular production model.
The discussion titled ‘SWITCH to Upstream Circularity Roundtable: Path Towards Circularity in Bangladesh’s RMG Industry’ was held in Dhaka, with active participation from industry stakeholders, policymakers, and sustainability experts to review the progress of the SWITCH2CE project and outline future steps to foster a circular textile ecosystem in Bangladesh.
This event was organized under the Switch to Circular Economy Value Chains project (SWITCH2CE), co-funded by the European Union and the Government of Finland.
SWITCH2CE is led by United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), in collaboration with Chatham House, Circle Economy, and European Investment Bank, and supports the switch to circularity in selected global value chains.
Presentations by Shamiul Hoque from the Global Fashion Agenda and Dr. Patrick Schröder of Chatham House provided valuable insights and actionable policy recommendations to support the industry’s shift towards a sustainable circular model.
The event featured a distinguished lineup of speakers, including Chief Guest Md. Abdur Rahim Khan, Additional Secretary and Head of the Export Wing at the Ministry of Commerce; special guest Dr. Bernd Spanier, Deputy Head of EU Delegation to Bangladesh; Mark Draeck, Chief Technical Advisor onCircular Economy in Global Value Chains, UNIDO.
Abdur Rahim Khan said, “We really need to frame a policy for Jhut waste management, and this will help us transition into circularity. We really need a national strategy for circularity.We really need to establish the zero-waste policy. ”
Dr. Bernd Spaniersaid, “I recall our discussion on this topic last year, and I am pleased to see BGMEA continuing this conversation on circularity. We think that, for Bangladesh the next five years will be crucial for its garments industries.Under the EU strategies for sustainable and circular textiles, the garments producing countries must transition from linear to circular production model.”
Mark Draeck said, “We are leading this project with distinguished partners and our mandate as a specialized agency of UN system is basically to help government and industries to use innovation to maintain or increase competitiveness while using greener technology. This is the heart of this project.”
