leather & tannery industry in bangladesh
TRANSCRIPT
“Leather & Tannery Industry in Bangladesh”
Independent University, Bangladesh
Submitted to
Dr. M. Nazmul Amin Majumder Faculty of Strategic Management (MBA 550, Sec-02)
School of Business
Independent University, Bangladesh
Submitted by
Farabi Ahmed ID: 121-121-8
Date of Submission: 15th March, 2015
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Leather & Tannery Industry in Bangladesh
Produced by: Farabi Ahmed ID: 121-121-8
Submitted to:
DR. M. NAZMUL AMIN MOJUMDAR
ALA Scholar Professor, School of Business Independent University, Bangladesh Spring 2015.
Dated: 31st March, 2015
Preface
The report is regarding the Leather & Tannery industry of Bangladesh and is required for
Strategic Management, the final report for completion of Masters in Business Administration
course MBA 550. This work is guided by our honorary faculty DR. M. NAZMUL AMIN
MOJUMDAR. The focus points includes external analysis, macro environmental factors, and
Porter’s five forces analysis. The report also includes internal analysis, core competencies,
SWOT analysis, corporate strategies, implementation of the strategy and finally corporate
social responsibility. The report highlights the key areas of human resources and fellow
readers should be able to understand the facilities whichever is captured in the report.
Finally, I would like to thank our faculty for giving the opportunity to write and submit the
report.
- Farabi Ahmed
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Executive Summary
This report is about the leather and tannery industry of Bangladesh. It contains critical
analysis about the different strategies held by the tannery industry, their process of
tanning, its effect on human, environmental factors. This report includes internal
environment analysis, Michael E. Porter’s five forces industrial analysis, SWOT analysis,
generic competitive strategies, corporate governance and strategic leadership. This report
clearly discusses the macro –economic, technological and other factors of external
environment analysis. It also enhances the implementation strategy, technological
advancement and CSR policy held for the leather and tannery industry of Bangladesh.it is
an upcoming sector in Bangladesh with many hardships but is expected in the future years.
The report critically discusses about different steps needed to be taken for improving
performances in this industry. It also discusses the necessary government steps and
attitudes, which are expected to boost this industry in Bangladesh.
Table of Contents
S.N. Topics Page Number
1 Introduction 1
2 History of leather tanning 1
3 History of leather tanning in Bangladesh 1
4 Objectives 2
5 Limitations 2
6 External analysis 2
7 Macro environment 3
8 Porter’s five forces model 7
9 Internal environment analysis 8
10 Core competencies 9
11 SWOT analysis 10
12 Corporate strategy 12
13 Implementing the strategies 13
14 Recommendations 13
15 Conclusions 14
14 References 14
1
Introduction:
The leather manufacturing process is divided into three sub-processes: preparatory
stages, tanning and crusting. All types of leather products undergoes these processes, and further
sub-processes are needed for surface coating, which may be added to the sequences. It is
generally restricted to batch processing, but in terms of surface coating, the tanning process can
be continuous. The operation flow has to follow the preparatory → tanning → crusting →
surface coating sub-process order without deviation, but some of the sub-processes can be
omitted depending on the variation of the product. (Sharphouse, H. John). Hides and skins are
sometimes preserved by drying, salting, or chilling, so that raw hides and skins will reach leather
tanneries in an acceptable condition. The use of environmentally persistent toxics for
preservation of raw hides and skins is to be avoided. In the tanning process, animal hides and
skins are treated to remove hair and non-structured proteins and fats, leaving an essentially pure
collagen matrix. The hides are then preserved by impregnation with tanning agents. Leather
production usually involves three distinct phases: preparation (in the beam house); tanning (in
the tanning yard); and finishing, including dyeing and surface treatment. A wide range of
processes and chemicals, including chrome salts, is used in the tanning and finishing processes.
History of leather tanning:
Tanning is a process in which the leather-making protein is permanently stabilized against heat,
enzymatic biodegradation, and thermo mechanical stress (Ramasami, T.). Usages of leather
products was introduced Neolithic period and oldest known of footwear is Areni – 1 shoe, which
was produced in Armenia around 3500 BCE. Tanning of hides to manufacture leather was
introduced during the Neolithic, and is documented from Ancient Egypt around 1,300
BCE.[1]
Various substances used were tannin obtained from trees, as well as animal brains,
or fasces. The odor from tanning separated the tanneries from populated areas.
(Maxweescottbags). Leather tanning is without a doubt one of the oldest human activities. In the
beginning, skins obtained from hunting and livestock breeding could be used for clothing or
tents, but they became stiff at low temperatures, while they rotted with heat. It was probably
then that attempts were made to render them more flexible and stronger by rubbing in animal
fats, the first rudimental tanning process is mentioned in Assyrian texts and in Homers Iliad.
(Leather Recource).
History of leather tanning in Bangladesh:
Leather processing is an old manufacturing sub-sector in Bangladesh with a long heritage of over
six decades. Availability of indigenous raw material (hides and skins) facilitated the setting up of
the industry in early 1940s in the then east Bengal. During Pakistan period (1947-1971), the
industry was dominated by non-Bengali migrants from India, who had the knowledge and the
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know-how of leather processing industry. At that time, leather processing was limited to the
production of wet blue leather (semi-processed tanned leather) and the non-Bengali traders
exported a large part of the produce to West Pakistan for further processing and production of
leather goods. A few small tanning units belonged to Bengali entrepreneurs who processed
leather mainly for the domestic market. Now leather industry occupies only a modest position in
Bangladesh economy way below its true potential. Thus, in 2001-02, value addition in leather
enterprises with 10 or more workers amounted to Tk. 8,737 million ($152 million), which was
about 3 percent of manufacturing value added in that size group of industries. Total employment
in leather enterprises with 10 or more workers was 27,686 or about 1 per cent of manufacturing
employment in that size group. In 2007-08, export of leather and leather products amounted to
$463 million, which was around 3.3 percent of total export earnings in that year. (Ahmed, N.;
Bakht, Z.).
Objectives:
Critical analysis about the impact of leather and tannery industry in Bangladesh.
The development, effects and modernization of this industry in Bangladesh.
The trending analysis and technological advancement of the industry within the border of
Bangladesh.
Limitations:
Some of the key limitations of the report includes unavailability of recent statistical data,
statistical data for leather and tannery industry are very limited, due to lack of data available at
any government surveys – BBS, BEPB, and Labor survey could be presented, due to unavailable
data. The time for presenting the report was not effective, this required longer period to carry out
necessary research and pilot surveys at leather and tannery industries.
External analysis:
External environment of a company includes all the relevant factors and influences anything
whichever is related to the exterior boundaries of the organization. It becomes important and
prolific factors due to its effect in the business and especially for leather and tanning industry.
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Macro environment:
The macro environment contains 6 – segment analysis. In this report it should include the roles
of macro-environment issues, its learning outcomes and effects for Bangladesh.
Economic Segment:
The foreign currency exchange rate for Bangladesh is relatively stronger compared to its
competitors, like India, Vietnam, etc. It is almost steady from BDT 78 – BDT 80 per US$. And
remains within this ranges for last few decades, making it favorable for many investors to cater
and set up their businesses. The GDP for Bangladesh is relatively stable from 5.8% - 6.0% since
2008, which is significant for investment by various opportunists. Although the interest rates and
the inflation rates are unethical but due to stable currency rates and cheap labor, it plays a
positive role for many investors to cater in this sector.
Political / Legal factors:
The Government of Bangladesh has unidentified the leather sector as one with considerable
growth and investment potential ranked fifth in the export earning sector. Currently Bangladesh
produces and exports quality bovine and ovine, caprine (buffalo and cow; sheep and goat)
leathers that have a good international reputation for fine textured skins. However, the entire
leather sector meets only 0.5% of the world’s leather trade worth US$75 billion. There are about
113 tanneries in Bangladesh that produce 180 million square feet of hides and skins per year. In
addition there are about 30 modern shoe manufacturing plants engaged in the production of high-
quality footwear, with over 2500 smaller footwear manufacturers also present in the sector.
There are around 100 small-to-medium leather goods manufacturers, and a small number of
Technological
Economic
Political / Legal
Socio- Cultural
Demographic
Global
Competitor Environment
Industry Environment
Macro Environment
Analysis
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niche larger manufacturers. Environmental impact from Tannery Waste The openly discharged
solid and liquid waste from tanneries causing lot of environmental impacts to the society. Human
health impact of pollution depends on the type of diseases. It has been found that the incidence of
illness among the people living at Hazaribagh and adjoining area is 15% higher than the people
living in the neighboring area. More people are suffering from diarrhea, fever, jaundice, cramp,
headache, sinus, lung disease etc. in the tannery based area like Hazaribagh as the effluents are
being discharged openly. Resource use impact is the change in land use, fisheries etc. Socio-
culture dislocation, i.e. loss of homestead land, neighborhood changes in socio-eco system. Loss
of bio-logical resources i.e. bio-diversity or endangered species including effects of flora and
fauna and loss of inhabitants. The effluents released from the tanning industries at Hazaribagh
are huge in quantity. It is unimaginable how much damage the effluents have caused to the
environment over the years. The level of environmental pollution is not acceptable. The
inhabitants of the surrounding areas (approx. 2.0 million) are seriously affected by openly
discharged waste water from the tanneries of Hazaribagh. (Ahmed J.). Henceforth, in the same
the central bank, which controls the monetary policy of Bangladesh has urged all the commercial
private banks to ease their loans for relocating tanneries to Savar from Hazaribagh, in an
environment friendly zone. (Independent Bangladesh).
Global segment:
The global markets for Bangladesh in terms of leather and tanning industry is up roaring, since
the independence of the country in 1971. Lately during 2003, BELA (Bangladesh Environment
Lawyers Association) has requested law suit from the Supreme Court regarding the shifting of
leather tannery industry at Hazaribagh, and locating at a more environment friendly zone. The
lawsuit also mentions about recycling the tons of tannery disposals, (Writ Petition no. 891 of
1994) henceforth, creating a tannery recycling industry at the location of the new leather and
tannery zone, which was later on shifted to Savar area. This has played a positive role, for the
foreign investors to invest in this industry, especially Japan and Italy, to observe the new areas,
and work alongside the existing leather and tannery industry. Whilst Bangladesh is expanding its
leather market in Italy, it holds strong chances of entering the EU (European Union), roughly
shifting the countries trade blocs, giving it a positive role to dominate the leather market in future
years.
Demography:
The population growth rate of Bangladesh is around 1.2% as of 2013 (World Bank). According
to the below it shows that currently Bangladesh has huge working population but likely to
decline in future decades.
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Figure 1
Table 1
The table – 1, shows the demographic trends for percentage distribution of population by age
group in terms of sex and living. This data is since 1981 until 2011, whilst the last official census
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has taken place. The population from 10 years old until 80 years old are the recognized
customers for leather products in terms of consuming leather products.
Socio- Culture:
Table 2
Table – 2, shows the different working age population in Bangladesh at city – life and rural –
life. About 1% of this population is part of leather and tannery industry resulting to accumulate
more than US$152 million.
According to Industrial Policy Order 2010 and Bangladesh Labor Act 2006, it states that the
industries must allow workforce diversity and follow a standard work life quality. The
employees must not be biased, harassed nor should face any type of racism or any of kind of
difficulties at workplace. The industry must have attending medical teams, must allow women at
work force, and should follow environmental law of Bangladesh.
Technological advancement:
Chrome-tanned leather tends to be softer and more pliable than vegetable-tanned leather, has
higher thermal stability, is very stable in water, and takes less time to produce than vegetable-
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tanned leather. Almost all leather made from lighter-weight cattle hides and from the skin of
sheep, lambs, goats, and pigs is chrome tanned. The first steps of the process (soaking, fleshing,
liming/dehairing, deliming, bating, and pickling) and the drying/finishing steps are essentially
the same as in vegetable tanning. However, in chrome tanning, the additional processes of
retanning, dyeing, and fatliquoring are usually performed to produce usable leathers and a
preliminary degreasing step may be necessary when using animal skins, such as sheepskin.
Fatliquoring is the process of introducing oil into the skin before the leather is dried to replace
the natural oils lost in beamhouse and tanyard processes. Fatliquoring is usually performed in a
drum using an oil emulsion at temperatures of about 60E to 66EC (140E to 150EF) for 30 to 40
minutes. After fatliquoring, the leather is wrung, set out, dried, and finished. In commercial
practice, vegetable and chrome tanning methods are widely used. The vegetable tanning method
does not need the prior preparation stage of pickling and therefore the contributions to pollution
load from sulfate salts are lower. Vegetable tannins, however, are known to be hard to
biodegrade (Healy, J.B., Jr., and Young, L.Y.), and hence wastes bearing vegetable tannins
degrade slowly. The development of internet, communications system, product innovations at
leather and industry sector has boosted the sector more than expected.
Porter’s Five Forces Model:
Michael Eugene Porter has developed the idea to aid firs for analyzing the competitive forces in
any industrial environment. He also stated that the stronger is each of these forces, the more
limited is the ability of establishing companies to increase prices and gain higher profits (Porter,
M.E.). The leather and tannery industry in Bangladesh, limited entry for new entrants, due to
huge capital requirements. Moreover, the government of Bangladesh has recently set restrictions
about introducing new leather and tannery industry, making it dearer for the infants. The foreign
buyers hold stronger
powers, as they have the
opportunity to switch
between competitors –
like India, Pakistan, etc.
The suppliers’ power
within the country is
very high, due to
collection of basic raw
hides and skins. Leather
industry itself has huge
substitutes, like – jute,
the golden fiber of
Bangladesh for bags,
textile industry, which
has huge prospects in fashion industry. The rivalry between industries, is very strong, they hold
strong ties with the government. Other countries, expertizing in this industry, are focusing at the
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research and development including the environment friendly tanning process, which is higher in
other nations compared that of Bangladesh.
Strategic group industrial analysis:
Strategic group industrial analysis shows the industrial positions of the market compared to
different leading industries. According to the diagram above, the RMG (Ready-Made Garments)
industry is the highest export oriented market in the country with lowest cost production. In
terms of BTA (Bangladesh Tanners Association), the cost of production is high but the export
market is still struggling, whereas, the ICT (Information & Computer Technology) market is
cheaper than BTA, and has the lowest market share compared to others. Pharma
(Pharmaceuticals) industries are the most expensive but also holds a giants export market of
around 70% of the global medical demand.
Internal environment analysis:
The internal environment analysis includes the study of the internal factors for the leather and
tannery industry in Bangladesh.
RMG
ICT
BTA
Cost
of
Pro
duct
ion
Export oriented market position High Low
Hig
h
Pharma
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Competitive Advantages:
The competitive advantages refers to sustainable advantages which a firm obtains internally due
to its market promotions from other industries. One of the most, sophisticated issues faced by the
leather and tannery industries in Bangladesh is the hazardous tanning process. The BTA has
recently, taken steps to support the leather industry, for implementing environment friendly
tanning process, which usually uses vegetable tanning instead of chromium tanning process. The
industries shifting from Hazaribagh to Savar, will implement this current environment friendly
tanning procedure. Although, it may be little more expensive, but various economists and other
diplomats are expecting, that the use of this process will increase the demand in leather global
village, giving Bangladesh leather and tannery industry competitive advantages over others.
Research and Development:
Few of the tanning industry, like – apex, and few more, has already planned to set up its own
research and development teams, to work together for the improvement of tanning industry. The
foreign investors and the Bangladesh Bank has already started working alongside the BTA, to
improve the export market. The recent positive shifts of leather market has given the tanners to
perform with sustainable advantages and improve its growth both internally and externally.
Value Chain analysis:
The leather industry in Bangladesh, already enjoys the low production cost advantage than other
countries, moreover, receives subsidies from many financial organizations. The distribution
system, tends to be cheaper, as they mostly use the local animals and that of the neighboring
countries. Due to government subsidies, it became ease of use for them to cater in this sector
than other sectors.
Core competencies:
Core competencies are the combination of pooled
knowledge and technical capacities that allow a business
to be competitive in the marketplace. Theoretically,
a core competency should allow a company to expand
into new end markets as well as provide a significant
benefit to customers. Some companies have already
started to focus at tanning crocodile skins, snake skins
and other forms of animal skins available for tanning.
They are mostly targeting to gain the premium leather
market, which deals with specialized animal skins, like
Maxwell Scott and some other Italian firms, who cater
the high – end leather customers around the world. Many
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tanners firms have focused at serving the local market alongside capturing the international
markets. Like – apex industry, bata, have taken steps to cater in the local market, continuing to
gain more profit, and gains higher market shares. Foreign direct investment in this sector along
with the production of tanning chemicals appears to be highly rewarding due to this presence of
basic raw materials for leather goods including shoes, a large pool of low cost, trainable labor,
and a tariff concession facility to major importing countries under Generalized System of
Preferences (GSP) coverage. Thus Bangladesh is an ideal offshore location for leather and
leather products manufacturing with low cost but high quality.
SWOT analysis:
A SWOT analysis (alternatively SWOT matrix) is a structured planning method used to evaluate
the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats involved in a project or in a business
venture.
Strengths:
The leather goods producing
enterprises only a few in number (
15-20 units) with product lines
relating to travel goods, suitcases,
briefcases and fashion accessories,
along with belts, wallets, hand
bags, case holders etc. for
overseas export. Export of leather
goods made of Ostrich bird
leather, is an unique collection
amongst many other exciting products made of goatskins, cow calf, Buff-Calf etc.. Articles made
of ostrich bird leather are exported to Australia (ostrich bird leather is imported from South
Africa and Australia). Bangladesh has also entered the field of Leather fashion garments with
items of distinction. The leather goods manufacturing firms use basically finished leather and
lining leather as raw materials and all
are collected from local sources.
About 95% of leather and leather
products of Bangladesh market is
abroad, mostly in the form of
crushed leather, finished leather, leather
garments, and footwear. Most leather
and leather goods go to Germany, Italy,
France, Netherlands, Spain, Russia,
Brazil, Japan, China, Singapore and
Taiwan. Value addition in these exports
averages 85% local and 15% foreign.
About 100 modern tannery units are
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now in operation in the industry. These are located mostly in the Hazaribagh area of Dhaka city.
In 1998, the sector exported 178 million sq. ft of leather and earned $160 million. The country`s
share in the world leather market is 2%. The export of finished products such as shoes, slippers,
leather jackets, hand gloves, bags, purses, wallets and belts also earn a sizeable amount of leather
products to penetrate new market segments.
Weakness:
The industry is now heavily concentrated at Hazaribagh in Dhaka, with three-quarters of the total
number of registered tanneries located here. Besides, a large number of tanneries at the cottage
level, estimated at over 100, are located at Hazaribagh. Such a concentration is likely to offer a
number of benefits in the form of sharing knowledge, raw materials, spare parts by the investors,
and also helping a rapid development of vertical and horizontal integrations of the industry
centering on the locality. However, Hazaribagh is a wrong place for the concentration of an
industry like leather manufacturing. Firstly, the area was originally developed as a residential
locality and, consequently, its narrow street and limited sewerage facilities are highly inadequate
to meet the needs of a growing Industry like leather manufacturing. Secondly, the unplanned
growth of the industry at Hazaribagh and the limited land area available in the locality has not
made it possible to make any provision for the much needed effluent treatment.
Opportunities:
There is an enormous scope for entrepreneurs and investors. The sector is still catering to the
low-end export market. In order to advance it must move to the next levels. Business friendly
policy: The sector needs business friendly policy by Government to increase the investment.
Needs more skilled workers and managers: Although there are unskilled competitive labor
forces, there is shortage of skilled workforces, managers and entrepreneurs. Limited access to
market - Bangladesh has a limited or small share (~0.56%) in the global business, so there is a
tremendous opportunity to grow to capture more market share around the world. Vietnam can be
a benchmark for Bangladesh who imports 70% of raw materials and exports Shoes and footwear
products: USD 6.549b, Bags & leather handbags: USD 1.289b
Threats:
Limited access to market information: A deeper, more widely held understanding of market trend in terms of quality, fashion, leather product prices, competitors, importers and consumers’ preferences, and anticipated regulations and restrictions needs to be developed in Bangladesh. Poor cooperation between firms/ stakeholders: strong connections between value chain members for a strong sector position, the stakeholders should hold their hands together for mutual benefits. Unfortunately this is still not the case. Low product quality and productivity: Product quality and overall productivity is always a concern for this sector. The product quality means the reliability and aesthetics of the finished products. It stems from the quality of basic raw materials including flayed hide/skin and chemicals, the overall workmanship and the machines/process used in the industry, so the sector still today target
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mostly the low end product market. Outdated Machineries - Traditional status quo mind set of the owners; they lack information on appropriate machineries, sources, prices etc. They also lack awareness on incentives for product / productivity improvements, are using traditional tanning and manufacturing methods and process.
Corporate strategy:
The footwear sub-sector of Bangladesh earned revenues in excess of USD 335.51 million in
2012-2013. The EU is the biggest destination for footwear exports with a 60% Meeting with
representatives of the footwear sub-sector highlighted an optimistic sentiment about business.
The businesses view their products as price and quality competitive. Footwear manufacturers in
the country rate themselves as being able to respond quickly to buyer inquiries, possessing the
ability to offer competitive prices, quality products, and prompt fulfillment of orders. The growth
of this sector is very encouraging and shows off the underlying potentiality of the sector.
However quite a few supply side weaknesses were also highlighted. Among the most important
are the inability of the tanneries to supply required quantities and quality of leather and the weak
track record of environmental standards, the lack of availability of high quality components and
accessories, the shortage of lasting capacities, the lack of footwear design and development
capacities, the nascent testing and analyses infrastructure, insufficient numbers of enterprises in
the sub-sector, shortage of craftsmen and supervisory-level personnel, and last but not least,
negative buyer perception on enterprise capabilities.
One of the major constraints raised by this sub-sector was the lack of finished leather variations
to match emerging trends in the EU market, due to the lack of innovation and up gradation by
tanners in Bangladesh. Anecdotal evidence gathered in meetings with enterprises highlighted that
some of the highest quality manufacturers are sourcing upwards of 40% of their leather
requirements from overseas and this impacts competitiveness. Another constraint seen was the
lack of new entrepreneurs entering the business, to augment capacity and provide a critical mass
that can attract more buyers to Bangladesh. The shortage of craftsmen and supervisory personnel
is also another constraint to the development of this sub-sector. Bangladesh produces 2 to 3
percent of the world`s leather market. The leather industry in Bangladesh is highly competitive.
Bata shoes, Apex tannery, Legacy footwear, Samata leather and Apex Adelchi footwear are
renowned companies in Dhaka and Chittagong stock market as well. But there are numerous
other small and big manufacturers of leather products. At present there about 15 exports oriented
shoes manufacturing units located mostly in and around Dhaka city. There are more than 2000
shoe making units supplying in the domestic market of Bangladesh.
Implementing the strategies:
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In 2003, the Government of Bangladesh announced that the tanneries located in Hazaribagh will
be shifted to a purpose-built and modern cluster in Savar, on the banks of the river Dhaleswari,
10 kilometers from Hazaribagh. The key highlight of the Savar cluster was to be the Common
Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP), conforming to international environmental standards. The
Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) is the implementing agency for
the project. It will support 195 tanneries with an employment potential of 100,000 people.
However, relocation and moving to designated modern tannery cite with existing outdated old
machineries from the existing Hazaribagh cite is a big challenge, and a matter of big investments
for the tannery owners. The sooner it takes place the better. The government of Bangladesh
provides a support to the leather industry through various steps, including monitoring the export
market, evaluating the performance of the sector by a permanent parliamentary committee, and
liberal bank credit.
Corporate Social Responsibility: CSR is a management concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns
in their business operations and interactions with their stakeholders.
The research centers throughout the world have undertaken studies on new tanning processes and
have updated old methods in an attempt to find an alternative to conventional chrome tanning
(Gratacos et al., 1993). Till date there is no effective substitution for chrome tanning system.
Chrome tanned leathers possess high stability to wet heat and they have shrinkage temperature
above 100oC. Considerable research has shown that the tanning effects of minerals other than
chromium (Al, Zr, Ti, or Fe) are enhanced when they are used in combination with vegetable
tannins, aldehydes, or other organic molecules (Madhan,et al, 2007). Leather tanned with these
combinations had Ts of near 100oC and physical-mechanical properties adequate for variety of
application. The vegetable–oxazolidine combination tanning has been adopted to make different
kinds of soft leather (Chandrababu et al., 1995). Oxazolidine has been found to be bio-
degradable (Rahman, 1995). This explicates that oxazolidine is highly potent to be a retanning
agent for vegetable tanned leather. Treatment of tannery wastewaters is always required. Some
streams, such as soaking liquor (which has high salinity), sulfide-rich lime liquor, and chrome
wastewaters should be segregated. Preliminary screening of wastewaters is required because of
the large quantities of solids present. Recovery of hair from the dehairing and liming process
reduces the BOD of the process effluent. Physical-chemical treatment precipitates metals and
removes a large portion of solids, BOD, and COD. Biological treatment is usually required to
reduce the remaining organic loads to acceptable levels.
Recommendations:
The government should cater more with the BTA and needs to invest for the R&D for improving
the leather and tannery industry. BELA can be appointed as a tool to study the environmental
impact and follow green tanning process. The leather industries needs to find more potential
customers and invest further and heavily in the local market. Bangladesh government may
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impose restriction about selling raw leather to neighboring countries, instead subsidize heavily at
the local tannery industry.
Conclusion:
The BTA has recently declared that they will be able to gain US$5billion from exporting raw
leather within the next four years. (Daily star). Chromium emissions may occur from chromate
reduction, handling of basic chromic sulfate powder, and from the buffing process. No air
emissions of chromium occur during soaking or drying. At plants that purchase chromic sulfate
in powder form, dust containing trivalent chromium may be emitted during storage, handling,
and mixing of the dry chromic sulfate. The buffing operation also releases particulates, which
may contain chromium. Leather tanning facilities, however, have not been viewed as sources of
chromium emissions by the States in which they are located. Currently almost all tanneries uses
chrome tanning process to make good quality leather. In chrome tanning process, the different
chromium salts are used. These chromium salts and its derivatives are very dangerous to human
health and to the environment. This research suggests, replacing the chrome tanning process with
silicate tanning process, so that the dangerous environmental impacts caused by the chromium
compounds can be eliminated. Since the properties of chrome and silicate leathers are almost
same, it is better to use silicate tanning process instead of chrome tanning. This yields the
tanneries and tannery products will be eco-friendly and pollution free tanneries.
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References:
A
Ahmed, J., 04 May 2014. “Bangladesh Tannery – Environmental Impacts” | Independent
Bangladesh. [Online].
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gladesh-tannery--environmental-impacts&catid=175:weekend-independent&Itemid=213.
[Accessed 30th
March 2015].
Ahmed, N,; Bakht, Z., June 2010. “Leather Footwear Industry in Dhaka: A Case Study” |
Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies. p. 1; para. 1.
B
BBS, 2013. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. Statistical Pocket Book 2013 | “Labor and
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C
Chandrababu, N.K.; Rathnasamy, V.; Samvelu, N.; and Parthasarathy, K. (1995). Ecofiendly
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D
Daily Star. 08 March 2015. Leather sector aims for US$5bn in exports. [Online]
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2015].
G
Gratacos, E.; Marsal, A. and Fort, M. (1993). Combination tannage with vegetable and
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H
Healy, J.B., Jr., and Young, L.Y. (1978). Catechol and phenol degradation by a methanogenic
population of bacteria, Appl. Environ. Microbiology (35) , pp. 216–218.
L
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Leather Resource. 2008. “A story that began a long time ago”. [Online].
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