Bangladesh's 1st circular economy summit highlights future growth

16 Jun '23

2 min read

The Bangladesh Circular Economy Summit in Dhaka. Pic: Bangladesh Apparel Exchange

Insights

The inaugural Bangladesh Circular Economy Summit in Dhaka spotlighted circularity's role in economic growth.
Speakers, including Dhaka's mayor and Netherlands' ambassador, highlighted sustainability principles, transition from a linear to a circular economy, and improved waste management.
The summit aimed to promote collaboration and circular business models

The inaugural Bangladesh Circular Economy Summit recently took place in Dhaka, underscoring the pivotal role of circularity in the country’s next economic growth phase. The summit, organised by Bangladesh Apparel Exchange in collaboration with Laudes Foundation and P4G, boasted an impressive lineup of speakers, including distinguished officials from both local and international bodies.

Among the prominent speakers was Dhaka North City Corporation mayor Md Atiqul Islam, who stressed the importance of the ‘3R’ principle—reduce, recycle, and reuse—for sustainability. He also highlighted the forthcoming mandatory compliance with European Union (EU) regulations on extended product responsibility for Bangladesh’s apparel producers, Bangladesh Apparel Exchange said in a press note.

The special envoy to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh for environment and climate change, Saber Hossain Chowdhury, advocated for a shift from the linear economic model to a circular one. This would entail prolonging resource use and maximising product value, thereby ensuring a mutually beneficial arrangement for manufacturers and buyers.

Lauding Bangladesh’s progress, Anne Van Leeuwen, the Netherlands’ ambassador to Bangladesh, suggested that Bangladesh could take the lead in the circular economy. Leyla Ertur, head of sustainability at the H&M Group, identified Bangladesh’s potential to attract local and foreign investments to upscale production of high-value recycled fibres. However, she stressed the need for improved waste management regulations to facilitate progress.

The summit comprised of four plenary sessions, three keynotes, three presentations, a roundtable, and a fireside chat. Key topics included Bangladesh’s path towards a circular economy, circular cities, the role of policy in accelerating circular economy, and post-industrial recycling in Bangladesh. Insightful keynotes were delivered by academia and industry experts, debunking circular economy myths, addressing challenges and opportunities, and illustrating circular business models for Bangladesh’s apparel industry, added the release.

“The Bangladesh Circular Economy Summit aims to find out the opportunities for the shift from the linear to circular business model and foster collaborations among the stakeholders to promote circular economy in the country,” said founder and CEO of Bangladesh Apparel Exchange Mostafiz Uddin.

The summit concluded with a fireside chat on achieving a just transition to decent work in a circular economy, featuring speakers from Laudes Foundation and Circle Economy.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (NB)

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