Garment waste processing now job provider for thousands
Recycling of waste raw materials left by garment factories has emerged as a good income generating source for many people in recent times.
As the informal sector requires small investment, it attracts a good number of investors who are employing thousands of people, mostly from under-privileged classes.
The garment leftovers, called jhoot by the people involved in the trade, are virtually turned into useful materials.
Every bits and pieces of waste raw materials starting from cut-pieces of clothes, zippers, buttons, thread, elastic fasteners, used plastic packets, broken cloth hangers, empty bobbins to rejected pants, shirts and t-shirts are sold from the garment factories.
Md Abdur Rashid Sheikh, secretary of Al-Amin Bahumukhi Babosayee Samobai Samiti, a garment waste traders association in Mirpur 10 Jhutpatti, said, “Rags discarded by one are treasure for another. We are helping to relieve the garment industry of a huge burden that was once thrown away in dumpsters.”
Rashid said each garment factory announces an auction for waste raw materials in every alternate week. The best quality waste cloths sells at Tk 35-40 per kg while the price for one kg low quality clothe can be as low as one taka.
Prices also change along with the market price of fabric and other products. Cotton clothes and white clothes cost more as these are widely used to reproduce cotton and yarn.
First stage of recycling starts with sorting, which is usually done by colours, type of fabric and its condition. The usable clothes are bought by small garment factories with one or two machines reproducing clothes with it. Children's frocks, skirts, shirts, pyjamas, pillow cases are produced with this usable portion of the wastage.
Rashid said these reproduced items are mostly sold in street side stalls all around the city. A large amount goes to Bangabazar, Doza market and New Market extension.
“Because of the jhoot trade the poor segment of the society can buy clothes at a cheaper prices”, said Rashid
The unusable parts and extremely shredded clothes are recycled into waste cotton. Dhaka's bedding industry is dependent on these shredded clothes. Mattress, pillows, cushions, seat stuffing and padding in cars, public buses and rickshaws are usually done with these recycled clothes and processed cotton.
In the market one kg recycled cotton costs around Tk 20 per kg.
One of the jhoot traders claimed that even bandages are being reproduced with leftover white cotton fabrics.
While buttons, zippers, elastic fastener, hangers and plastic bags are resold to mini garment accessory sellers. These are sold at Tk 40 to Tk 80 per kg.
Buttons, zipper, elastics fasteners are mostly purchased by local tailors, said an accessory seller.
According to Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) there are about 4,500 units of garment factories in Bangladesh.
Around 500 textiles and garments waste processor units are currently under operation in the country and they produce around 500 tonnes of processed waste cotton every day, said sources at Bangladesh Textile and Garments Waste Processors and Exporters Association.
However, there has not been any proper survey on the industry throughout the country.
Largest garment waste processing zones have developed in and around Dhaka surrounding garment industry belts like Mirpur, Tongi, Gazipur, Savar and Narayanganj.
The largest jhootpatti (area for jhoot trade) is located at Mirpur Section 10 where around 400 stores have employed around 10,000 people for collecting and sorting of the jhoot items. Most of the workers are women.
With flourishing of garment sector in early 1980s, some people got interested in the trade. Before that these waste materials were simply thrown away polluting land and waters around the factory zones.
Jhoot traders said, while the trade of garment waste is thriving with the pace of the garment industry, problems related to this informal sector are many.
“Since the sector is still informal and runs with small investment without a strong foundation, harassment by police and local goons for toll collection is regular,” said Md Abul Hashem, auditor of Mirpur Kata Kapor Babosayee Somobai Samity Ltd (Mirpur Garment Wastage Business Owners Association).
“These jhootpattis do not have land to set up suitable establishments. So almost all the stores are located at encroached government lands. Fear of eviction always remains,” said a trader of the area requesting anonymity.
Clashes among local musclemen over control of the trade occur frequently, sometimes leading to even murder, he added.
Md Rabiul Islam, a trader at Mirpur 10 Jhootpatti, however, said, “The negative notion about the jhoot trade is slowly fading away. It would even be quite possible to earn a huge amount of foreign exchange with these wastes. Dear items like carpets and rugs can be produced if a modern mechanism can be developed to process this jhoot.”
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