The Partnership for Cleaner Textile (PaCT) program. You are aware that the International Finance Corporation (IFC) has been implementing the PaCT project since 2013. Through 10 years of its intervention, the program has earned a huge appreciation at home and abroad for the impact it has successfully able to make in cleaner production.
Though the PaCT Program was launched in 2013 by IFC and various partners, including BGMEA, and a number of global fashion brands and retailers; funded by the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Royal Danish Embassy, the origin of this project was the Cleaner Production project jointly organised zed by the Dutch Embassy at Dhaka and BGMEA in 2008-2009.
PaCT aims to improve resource efficiency, reduce environmental impact, and promote sustainable practices in the textile industry. The program focuses on three key areas: water, energy, and chemicals. By implementing innovative technologies and practices, the program aims to reduce water and energy consumption and minimise the use of hazardous chemicals in textile production.
As an implementing partner, BGMEA has been playing a crucial role in steering and implementing the project. Since its launch, PaCT has helped more than 338 factories to reduce freshwater consumption by 25 million m3/year and cut wastewater discharge by 21.08 million m3/year. These factories now save 2.5 million MWh/year in energy and avoid greenhouse gas emissions of up to 489,796 tons/year of CO2. PaCT also supports factories to recover chemicals such as salt and caustic soda that further cuts operating costs. In a broader scale, PaCT advocacy helped create a $200 million Green Transformation Fund, through which the Bangladesh Government supports low-cost financing for resource efficiency in the textile industry. To learn more about PaCT please visit: https://www.textilepact.net/ .
One of the key deliverables of the PaCT project was to establish a knowledge centre ter named ‘Textile Technology Business Center (TTBC)’ which serves as the one-stop knowledge hub and will continue to serve after the PaCT project phases out. We have established an office of the Textile Technology Business Center (TTBC) on 20th November 2022 at BGMEA Complex, Uttara. I am happy to inform you that BGMEA has fully taken over the Textile Technology Business Center (TTBC) from IFC. I will inform you more about the TTBC and its services in my next email.
As consumer demand for sustainable and ethically produced textiles continues to rise, the need for sustainable practices in the industry becomes even more critical. The multi-stakeholder engagement ‘PaCT’ helped us lay a strong foundation toward the direction of environmental sustainability. I extend my deepest thanks to all partners, patrons and participants of this project. I the momentum will continue in the coming days, as our industry already revolutionises green manufacturing.
