Water Pollution and the Textile Industry in Bangladesh: Flawed Corporate Practices or Restrictive Opportunities?

Maiko Sakamoto, Tofayel Ahmed, Salma Begum and Hamidul Huq
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Maiko Sakamoto: Department of International Studies, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba 2778563, Japan
Tofayel Ahmed: JADE Bangladesh, House # 66, Road # 08, Niketon, Gulkshan-1, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Salma Begum: Institute of Development Studies and Sustainability, United International University, United City, Madani Avenue, Baridhara, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Hamidul Huq: Institute of Development Studies and Sustainability, United International University, United City, Madani Avenue, Baridhara, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 7, 1-14

Abstract: The textile industry in Bangladesh has been a great engine for boosting economic growth in the country. However, with great success came environmental deterioration. Untreated effluents containing heavy metals are being released into rivers from nearby factories, affecting the health of people who live along the polluted rivers. The existing law in Bangladesh, requiring such factories to install an effluent treatment plant (ETP), has not been effective in reducing environmental noncompliance. This paper aims to investigate the reality of the situation that the textile industry faces regarding environmental compliance. It is based on primary data collected from textile factories in Dhaka through a questionnaire survey with complementary interviews. This study especially highlights the barriers and difficulties faced by factories in the installation and operation of ETPs. The results confirm previous findings: Low willingness of companies to meet environmental compliance requirements and inadequate monitoring and enforcement by government authorities. In addition, we reveal that the dominant barriers to ETP installation are at the purchase stage, rather than the construction stage: ETPs are unavailable in local markets and the import tax is high. Institutional arrangements are required to improve this situation; this could include establishing a subsidy scheme that would encourage voluntary construction of central ETPs. We suggest that external pressure is essential for Bangladesh to change and the external bodies exerting such pressure should have objective measures by which to judge compliance; the quality of river water might be the only reliable measure of environmental compliance in this situation.

Keywords: environmental compliance; river pollution; industrial effluent; effluent treatment plant; public policy; state intervention; collective action; international cooperation; Bangladesh (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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