Multinational cement manufacturer LafargeHolcim Bangladesh will experimentally dispose of solid waste from the Savar Tannery Industrial Estate, which is polluting the environment and the Dhaleshwari River on the outskirts of the capital.

Initially, it will dispose of 300 tonnes of the waste and once the experiment succeeds, LafargeHolcim will enter into an agreement with the Dhaka Tannery Industrial Estate Wastage Treatment Plant Company Limited.

Under the terms of the contract, the cement manufacturer will dispose of the waste for a fixed fee, according to sources in the industries ministry.

The Savar tannery estate generates around 64,000 tonnes of solid waste every year. However, there is no waste disposal system in the estate, which leads to environmental pollution in the area. 

In an email message, LafargeHolcim told The Business Standard that tannery waste is a hazardous waste which needs to be disposed of in an environment-friendly manner and Geocycle – the waste management wing of LafargeHolcim - has come up with a solution for the tannery units in the Savar area.

"It has been a big point for the leather sector and with our state-of-the-art waste management facilities, we may be able to help the tannery industry in saving the environment and preventing water pollution," it read.

The company said it is in the process of carrying out an industrial trial with this waste at its Surma plant in Sunamganj's Chhatak to understand the feasibility and difficulties related to going into a long-term arrangement for continuous waste disposal.

"We are disposing of more than 5000 tonnes of waste every month. The company has recently invested in a state-of-the-art facility to enable sustainable waste disposal. We want to implement our global expertise of handling various types of wastes generated in the country, helping industries with sustainable waste management solutions with the motto of a cleaner and greener Bangladesh," it added.

LafargeHolcim said Geocycle is globally committed to sustainable waste management.

"We apply the proven technology of 'co-processing' and utilise existing facilities in our cement kiln to resolve waste challenges sustainably. This technology is currently practised in 50 different countries by Holcim globally," it added.

In Bangladesh, Geocycle is the only approved waste management solution provider catering to numerous industries, said the multinational company, adding that the current portfolio of waste disposed of by Geocycle involves various types of plastics, ETP sludge from textile units, expired FMCG products and hazardous wastes from other industries.

The company said Geocycle is a brand of Holcim based in Switzerland and operating in 70 countries. In 2017, LafargeHolcim Bangladesh launched Geocycle in Bangladesh.

Rajesh Surana, chief executive officer of LafargeHolcim Bangladesh, earlier said, "We have invested around Tk35 crore to set up a state-of-the-art waste management facility named Geocycle in our Chhatak Plant in Sunamganj, which ensures adequate storage, safe handling, globally recognised pre-processing, and environment-friendly disposal through co-processing."

The Savar tannery estate has taken 19 years to implement the project, which was initially scheduled to be completed in two years.

The project cost has gone up by six times in the meantime.

Tannery owners think that the leather industrial city is "incomplete" and "environmentally unfriendly".

Although the deadline of the project, taken up in 2003, was extended 12 times and the cost increased from Tk175 crore to Tk1,015 crore, the construction of the common chrome recovery unit to stop environmental pollution has not been completed, said the Bangladesh Tanners Association.

Under the project, a central effluent treatment plant (CETP) was supposed to be set up within two years, but it took more than seven years to complete its construction due to delays by the Chinese contractor concerned and the failure of the industries ministry.

However, the refining capacity of the CETP covers only half of the waste generated by the tanneries during the peak season.

Therefore, the waste is discarded before it is fully treated in the CETP.

Currently, 155 tanneries operate factories in the Savar estate. 

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