Plummy Fashions: a beacon among green factories

Bangladesh, which is often associated with hazardous working conditions and disasters in garment factories, will reach a milestone next month when it introduces the world's highest rated green knitwear factory.

Located in Narayanganj, 20 kilometres south from the capital, Plummy Fashions has already started trial operation with 500 workers.

It will go into full production in mid-May, by which time it will receive the US Green Building Council's 'LEED Platinum' certification.

Once awarded, Plummy Fashions would be the first knitwear factory in the world to have the platinum certification, according to its Managing Director Fazlul Hoque.

He said his environmentally-sound knit apparel manufacturing unit would receive the certification as it has met all requirements. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification is a rating system that reviews a factory's green initiatives such as site development, energy and water conservation, materials selection and indoor environmental conditions. To get a LEED Platinum certification, one company must score 80 out of the available 110 points.

Hoque said his factory would score 93. “No garment factory has received this high a score in the world,” he told The Daily Star.

The two-storied manufacturing unit is situated on a campus of 5.5 acres of land, 50 percent of which are open areas with lush greenery. Its six reservoirs will store around six lakh litres of rainwater and use it for washroom flushing.

The installed water fixtures will economise water consumption by up to 60 percent. The system will allow only 1.5 litres of water for use per minute, instead of 6 to 8 litres under the traditional system.

The factory is highly energy-efficient. It has designed the windows and louvres in such a way that it can use the maximum daylight, a move that will help save 70kw power on a sunny day. The 65kw solar panels set up on the rooftop of the factory will provide 13 percent of the plant's total power requirement of 500kw.

Work on the first floor will be carried out in sunlight, saving 70kw of electricity. LED bulbs are programmed to be switched on automatically under light deficiency or gloomy sky. It also has an effluent treatment plant.

The building, which has been made with pre-fabricated steel, has 10 emergency exit points and is equipped with a high-quality fire-fighting system and more than 250 smoke- and heat-detecting devices.

Other than the rainwater harvesting system, the campus also has bicycle sheds, housing for workers, schools, markets, bus or tempo stands and latest technology-based electricity-efficient auto-cleaning knit machines.

The factory has child care, health care, recreation and training facilities as well.

It also has a showering facility for its perspiring workers -- a provision unthinkable in the country's garment factories.

By next month, 1,500 workers will work in a neat and clean environment within 28 degree Celsius temperature under complete air conditioning. “Plummy Fashions may be considered a model for knit garment factories at home and abroad,” said Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman during a visit to the factory yesterday.

The factory with a capacity to produce nearly one million pieces of garment a month cost Tk 80 crore, with financing from IFIC Bank, which is partly backed by the central bank under its green banking initiative. The sum, however, does not include the cost for the land, which already belonged to Hoque.

“I am very proud of the project. But I will be happy if others come forward and set up factories that are green and take all safety issues into consideration,” said Hoque, also a former president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association.

“This way, we will be able to overcome the image crisis the disasters of Rana Plaza and Tazreen Fashions Fire have slapped on us.”

Hoque, who is currently in talks with Marks & Spencer, C&A, Esprit and Li & Fung about orders, is also aware of the challenges lying ahead.

“To make this type of initiative a success, buyers have to come forward by providing better prices. If they raise the prices even by a small amount, it would be a huge boost in ensuring factory safety in the country.”

“And it is in the best interests of the buyers. Instead of coming under pressure after disasters like Rana Plaza, they should be proactive and support initiatives like this,” said Hoque, also a former president of Bangladesh Employers Federation.