A diverse group of stakeholders from the garment and textile industry gathered at BGMEA Complex in Dhaka on Monday to discuss the prospects of circular economy in the country.

Industry leaders, policymakers, brands, development partners, suppliers, recyclers and banker attended at a roundtable to discuss the issues.

They discussed the challenges and opportunities of transitioning to a circular economy in Bangladesh, as well as the way forward to build a circular industrial ecosystem in the country.

The roundtable was as a part of a dialogue titled “Switch to Upstream Circularity: Pre-consumer Textile Waste in Bangladesh.”

This event was organised 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.

Thanking all the participants, BGMEA President Faruque Hassan said the event would pave the way for bringing thoughts, ideas and experiences together in order to pursue a common goal – to transform the industry into a circular manufacturing hub.

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Jeremy Bruer, Australian High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Mark Draeck, Chief Technical Advisor on SWITCH2Circular of UNIDO; Holly Syrett, Director of Impact Programmes and Sustainability at Global Fashion Agenda; Nin Castle, Chief Program Officer- Co-Founder, Reverse Resources, Abdur Rahim Khan, Additional Secretary to Commerce Ministry, Mahbub ur Rahman, CEO of HSBC Bangladesh, Enamul Huque, Managing Director and Country Head of Corporate of Commercial and Institutional Banking at Standard Chartered Bank, Humaira Azam, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Trust Bank, joined the roundtable.

Moderated by Barrister Vidiya Amrit Khan, Director of BGMEA, the discussion was also attended by representatives from brands including H&M, BESTSELLER, KIABI, Kmart Australia, Primark, Decathlon, GIZ and other stakeholders.

They discussed how Bangladesh could embrace circular practices, reduce the environmental footprint of the textile sector, create new job opportunities and bolster their international reputation as a hub for sustainable manufacturing.

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The discussants stressed the need for leapfrogging in terms of technology, innovation, and investment in circularity.

They also highlighted the importance of strengthening partnerships between buyers and suppliers to accelerate the transition towards a circular economy.

The participants spotlighted the issue of price in encouraging and supporting suppliers in integrating circularity in their industrial operations.

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Another key point of discussion was on collaborative approach of all stakeholders to develop an ecosystem for driving circularity in Bangladesh.

They opined that by recycling pre-consumer textile waste Bangladesh could reap economic, social and environmental benefits and strengthen its position in the global market.