Faculty Of Civil Engineering

Department Of Environmental Engineering

UPCYCLING THE GARMENT SOLID WASTE IN

BANGLADESH

UPCYCLING KONTSEPTSIOONI RAKENDAMINE BANGLADESHI

RÕIVATÖÖSTUSE TAHKETE JÄÄTMETE KÄITLUSES

MASTER THESIS
EKE70LT

Student Mohammad Hemel Bhuiya

Student code a144958

Supervisor Kristjan Piirimäe

Tallinn, 2017
AUTHOR’S DECLARATION

Hereby I declare, that I have written this thesis independently.

No academic degree has been applied for based on this material.
All works, major viewpoints and data of the other authors used in this thesis have been
referenced.

“.......” .................... 201…..

Author: ..............................
/signature /

Thesis is in accordance with terms and requirements

“.......” .................... 201….

Supervisor: ….........................
/signature/

Accepted for defence

“.......”....................201… .

Chairman of theses defence commission: .............................................................................

/name and signature/
Tаllinn University of Tеchnоlоgy
Dеpаrtmеnt оf Еnvirоnmеntаl Еnginееring

TАSK FОR FINАL THЕSIS

Studеnt’s cоdе: a144958
Studеnt spеciаlizing in Еnvirоnmеntаl Еnginееring: Mohammad Hemel Bhuiya
Supеrvisоr fоr thе thеsis: Kristjan Piirimäe
Code for the final paper: EKE70LT
Tоpic оf thе Thеsis:

Upcycling The Garment Solid Waste In Bangladesh

Upcycling Kontseptsiooni Rakendamine Bangladeshi Rõivatööstuse Tahkete Jäätmete

Käitluses

Dаtе оf еxpiry: June 2017

Initiаl dаtа:

 Textile and garment waste Upcycling related research and publications.

 Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and
Bangladesh knitwear manufacturers and exporters association (BKMEA) database
(History, growth and statistics of garment industry in Bangladesh).
 Bangladesh garment and textile waste exporters association statements (Garment
waste status in Bangladesh)
 Environmental impacts of fast fashion industry related articles.

Cоntеnt оf thе thеsis:

Analysis of garment solid waste management and finding out the competence of
“Upcycling” as alternative sustainable tool for garment solid waste management in
Bangladesh from the perception of online survey respondents.

Dаtе оf publishing: September 2016

Supеrvisоr: Kristjan Piirimäe ………………………….

Tаsk hаs bееn аccеptеd by: Mohammad Hemel Bhuiya ………………………….

 Abstract

In Bangladesh textile and garment businesses are growing at a high rate, as global
demand for clothing rises fast. This clothing industry affords the socio-economic growth
rapidly in Bangladesh. Massive production of textile and clothing generate a huge amount
of solid waste and causing a lack of raw materials. Many environmental degradations and
losing financial gain are also in prime concern in Bangladesh due to unsustainable garment
industries solid waste management. Upcycling the garment solid waste in Bangladesh is a
possible sustainable solution to this problem. Upcycling is a creative and sustainable way
where waste is reused to make a new product. The topic of “Upcycling the garment solid
waste in Bangladesh” has not discussed and studied on a modest scale up to now. This study
intends to provide an extensive analysis of the garment solid waste management system in
Bangladesh and finding the penetrating power of upcycling as a sustainable alternative waste
management tool.

Update theoretical data has been described through introductory chapter followed by the
chapters textile waste and garment industry in Bangladesh. This theoretical part of the study
that covers the impacts of fast fashion, different types of garments solid waste sources and
solid waste management systems including upcycling. An online survey carried out among
the random garment industries from Bangladesh about their current solid waste management
system, the perspective of upcycling and barriers to start upcycling. The author analyses the
data retrieved from the survey result submitted by different garment factories from
Bangladesh. Although there have some barriers to apply upcycling, still respondents positive
attitude towards upcycling indicates its potentiality as a sustainable waste management tool
in the Bangladeshi clothing sector.
Key words

o Upcycling
o Sustainability
o Fast fashion
o Bangladesh
o Garment
o Textile
o Solid waste
o Waste management
o Environment
o Raw material
o Leftover
o Reuse
o Recycling
o Downcycling
o Landfill
 Contents
Chapter

Introduction ...............................................................................................................1

1.1 Background ............................................................................................................. 1

1.2 Impacts of fashion industry on environment and society ....................................... 4

1.3 Problem discussion- in terms of Bangladesh ........................................................ 11

1.4 Purpose of the study .............................................................................................. 14

1.5 Research question ................................................................................................. 14

1.6 Limitations ............................................................................................................ 14

Textile waste ............................................................................................................15

2.1 Types of textile and garments waste ..................................................................... 15

Post-consumer waste ..................................................................................... 15

Pre-consumer waste ....................................................................................... 16

Production waste............................................................................................ 16

2.2 Garment solid waste sources ................................................................................. 17

2.3 Waste management ............................................................................................... 20

Landfill .......................................................................................................... 21

Energy recovery............................................................................................. 22

Recycling ....................................................................................................... 22

Downcycling .................................................................................................. 23

Reuse ............................................................................................................. 24

Prevention ...................................................................................................... 25

Upcycling....................................................................................................... 25

2.4 Waste hierarchy including upcycling.................................................................... 27

2.5 Upcycling design examples .................................................................................. 29

 Reet Aus ........................................................................................................ 29

Beximco ......................................................................................................... 30

Garment industry in Bangladesh .............................................................................32

3.1 History, growth and challenges............................................................................. 32

3.2 Facts and statistics................................................................................................. 34

3.3 Garments solid waste management in Bangladesh ............................................... 36

Methodology ............................................................................................................38

4.1 Research design .................................................................................................... 38

4.2 Sample and sampling design ................................................................................. 39

4.3 Research process and data collection .................................................................... 43

4.4 Data analysis ......................................................................................................... 45

Survey data analysis and presentations ...................................................................46

5.1 Demographic data ................................................................................................. 46

5.2 Perception data ...................................................................................................... 51

Findings and discussion ...........................................................................................58

6.1 Findings and discussion ........................................................................................ 58

Conclusion ...............................................................................................................61

References ......................................................................................................................63

Appendix .................................................................................................................70
 Introduction

This opening section will make an introduction to the background of the

subject, the environmental impact and identify the problem of the thesis.
A problem discussion followed by the purpose will result in the
presentation of the research questions forming the study. Limitations of
the study will end the introductory part.

The garment industry is an important sector in Bangladesh. On the other

hand, this massive manufacturing activity of clothing and its supportive
industries produce a lot of solid waste. Due to the lack of proper waste
management, this wastes pose a serious threat on the environment and
losing the economical potentiality. This study will find out the impacts of
fashion industry on the environment, current scenario of solid waste
management in the apparel industry and assess the upcycling of garments
solid waste which is relatively more environmental and economic
sustainable way.

1.1 Background

We are living on a planet containing the number of inhabitants in more than 7 billion
[1]. If each and everyone owns at least one shirt, one pant and one jacket that would be more
than 21 billion pieces of clothes. The amount of clothing in supply chain changed
meaningfully from 2000 to 2006, the number of garments annually bought per person
increased over one-third, and the life cycle of clothing decreased by half [2]. A technical
report from WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme) shows that estimated total
amount of 5,744 million items are owned by approximately 50 million adult population of
UK in 2011 [3].

Clothes are one of the most important basic need in the daily life of a human. Fashion
is also an effective way for people to convey their personality. As a material form of
expression, fashion apparel is important to our personal and social relationships, linked to
how we live and see ourselves within society [4]. So, the manufacturing, usage, disposal and
further demand for clothes is a continuous process. And this demand of the fashion trend is
also changing rapidly according to the seasons and wants of the society at the times.
Worldwide, customers spend over 1 trillion USD on clothing yearly, and the apparel sector

1
delivers jobs for over 26 million people [2]. Fashion Industry development focused on
increasing the volume of material flow through mass production and on accelerating the rate
of retail turnover through greater integration in the global supply chain, during the last 25
years [5].

Meanwhile, computer technology, social media and globalization transformed the

entire process, enabling retailers to design, manufacture and ship products much faster and
more efficiently. And this affecting the global fashion trade, named as “fast fashion”1. “Fast
fashion” characterizes the speed of today’s clothing production and consumption: clothing
is designed to be cheap, easy, and rapid to produce, and is created to be distributed, sold, and
consumed in ever-increasing quantities [6]. This cheap, trendy, popular clothing chains
which rapidly change their inventory and styles. Today’s fashion trend is more competitive
and constant need to “update” products means that there is a certain move by many retailers
to extend the number of “seasons”, that is, the frequency with which the entire merchandise
within a store changed. With the rise of little accumulations of stock, retailers are urging
customers to visit their stores all the more every now and again with the thought of 'Here
Today, Gone Tomorrow'.

According to the Bhardwaj & Fairhurst (2010) “Since the 1980s, a typical life cycle
for fashion apparel had four stages: introduction and adoption by fashion leaders; growth
and increase in public acceptance; mass conformity (maturation); and finally, the decline and
obsolescence of fashion. Also, the fashion calendar during this time was primarily based on
the fabric exhibitions, fashion shows and trade fairs, that consisted of the basic pattern of
Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter ranges which typically resulted in developing a
seasonal range in one full year” [7]. During the era of fast fashion, in order to increase the
variety of fashion apparel in the market, the concept of adding more phase to the existing
season. So the additional 3 to 5 mid-season forced huge pressure on suppliers to deliver
smaller batches with reduced lead time [8]. These progressions to the quantity of mid-

1
Fast fashion= describe cheap and affordable clothes which are the result of catwalk designs moving into stores
in the fastest possible way in order to respond to the latest trends.

2
seasons emerged incompletely from the changes in shoppers' ways of life and somewhat
from the need to fulfill buyers' interest for design attire for particular events.

The textile and clothing sector have different social and environmental impacts during
material cultivation, manufacturing processes, logistic phases and during use and disposal
stages (Table 1).

Table 1: Social and environmental impacts along the clothing supply chain [11]

Fabric and
garment
Material >>> Retail >>> Usage >>> Disposal
production
>>>
>High street
>Pesticide
>Use of working
used in cotton >Detergent >Landfill
chemicals conditions and
growing.
pay
>Water and >Treatment of
>Water use >Energy use –
energy use suppliers
washing,
>Genetic drying and
>Waste >Energy use ironing
modification.
>Fair
conditions and >Working
>Packaging
prices for conditions
growers.
>Animal
welfare.
>Use of oil in
synthetics.

In textile and clothing production cycles are speeding up, and hence manufacturing
and consumption volumes are ever-increasing while simultaneously the life span of products
are shortening. The explosion of consumption in the Western world adds to the
environmental load of industrial processes and increases waste streams [9]. At the same time
clothing supplier industries has moved with increasing speed and volume into low-cost Asian
and Far East countries. Where the prices are lower, as all the clothing brands are getting low

3
wages production facility to feed their stores every now and then with new designs. These
circumstances contribute to the environmental pollution, poor working environment,
unexpected accident in the workplace, decreasing natural resources and increasing waste in
those supplier countries. The clothes should either be biodegradable by becoming nutrients
for the earth, or be able to go back into the recovery cycle. i.e. either reuse or upcycle with
zero waste. Clothing needs to be designed for a cradle to cradle life cycle.

1.2 Impacts of fashion industry on environment and society

The fashion trend is more demandable for its resourcefulness, its color, its style and its
gift as a cultural and social reflector. Although fashion plays very significant role by
engaging everyone, but the fashion industry also contributes significantly to and is affected
by the environmental degradation and social challenges we are now facing [10]. Like any
other industries there’s a downside, characterized at its worst by factories exploiting workers,
generating throwaway fashion, wasting resources and encouraging unsustainable
consumption [11]. The textile supply chain is of a highly complex nature requiring extensive
international, national, and local supply chain networks that must respond to the frequent
changes in product lines and styles [12]. Textile production not only has harmful
environmental impacts during the production phase but also during the consumption period,
where the means of caring for and disposing of clothes has a considerable negative
environmental effect” [13].

The textile and fashion consumption in the world has been consistently increasing over
the years. According to the World Apparel Fiber Consumption Survey 2005-2008 by Food
and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and International Cotton Advisory
Committee, “Encompassing an annual average growth of the world gross domestic product
(GDP) of 4.2% during 2000 - 2007, per capita world fiber consumption increased by almost
35%, from 8.3 KG in 2000 to 11.1 KG in 2007 [14]. The world’s resources are decreasing
this way to feed the raw materials in fashion and textile industry. Resource extraction, water
and land use implicate serious environmental problems: destruction of fertile land, water
shortages, toxic pollution etc. [15]. Most of the environmental problems can be associated
with material consumption and disposal, since material inputs become waste outputs [16].

4
 In Figure 1, the global fiber consumption curve from 2000 to 2012 specify a growing
tendency. Though in 2008 there was a little fall but recuperated in 2010, since the global
fiber consumption is rising high.

Figure 1: Annual global fiber consumption 2000- 2012 [34]

Above figure shows that cotton and synthetic fibers are the main fibers used in fashion
and textiles by market volume. It is also showing that demand for cotton fibers has been
approximately constant, while demand for synthetic fibers has nearly doubled for the year
2012 on average.

Water is a lifeline across the supply chain of textile and fashion production, and thus
pollutes a significant amount of water. Average water use per kilogram of textile for only
cotton cultivation and another stage for all fibers to identify the most water consuming stage
(Table 2).

5
 Table 2: Priority water supply chain stages [10]

Impact and Average water use(Per

Supply chain stage
dependency 1 KG of textile)

20,000 litres [irrigated

Growing cotton fibre Water use and pollution
conventional cotton corp]

Treating/dyeing/finishing
Water use and pollution 100–150 litres
fibres and fabrics [all fibres]

Consumer laundering [all

Water use and pollution 1650 litres
fibres]

During cultivation cotton also need to treat with insecticides, as cotton get insect
infection easily. “Though only 2.4% of the world’s arable land is planted in cotton, it
accounts for 24% of the world’s insecticide market, making it the most pesticide intensive
crop grown. Conventional cotton farming is harmful for the air, water, soil, and people living
in the area of cotton growing. In the production of a single cotton T-shirt, one-third pound
of agricultural chemicals is used [15].” N2O-gases are linked to cotton growing and have an
almost 300-time larger effect than CO2 [17].

Wastewater from textile production is often difficult to treat because the chemical
composition varies. 10-20% of dye typically remains contributing to waste water at the end
of wet process while also contains bleach, detergent and other processing chemicals [10]. As
an example, in 2009, textile production ranked third among major industries in China in
terms of total wastewater discharge, emitting over 2.5 billion tons, primarily from the dyeing
and finishing steps of manufacture [18]. The manufacture of cotton textiles also has negative
impacts through the use and flushing and improper disposal of dye. A huge discrepancy is
existing already between water supply and demand.

6
 Overuse of resources has adverse environmental and social impacts globally.
Moreover, the extraction and processing of materials involve higher environmental concern
[15]. The apparel sector is often easily using the environmental resources for the goods and
service and the result is that our natural resources are being used at an unsustainable rate and
being spoiled. The fashion textile industry is now considered one of the most polluting and
resource-intensive industries in the world [13]. According to textile exchange 2010 global
market report on sustainable textiles, 1 trillion kilowatt hours are used every year by the
global textile industry.

Figure 2 shows the energy consumption of a T-shirt in the four major phases in the life
cycle. Total energy consumption is approximately 109 MJ per T-shirt.

70
65

60

50

40
MJ (Mega Joule)

30
24

20 16

10 7

0
Material Production Transportation Use Disposal
-3
-10
Life cycle Phases of a T-Shirt

Figure 2: Primary energy profile for a T-shirt [2]

The International Energy Agency estimates that based on current trends, energy needs
might be over 40% higher in 2030 than today [19]. In the report “Fashion Future” [11]
mentioned that “high oil prices will have an effect across the clothing supply chain and will

7
have a knock-on effect on the cost of polyester, pesticides and transport. Similarly, the
availability and cost of water will impact cotton cultivation, manufacturing textiles and
garments including the post-consumer maintenance”.

On average for 2013/2014, cotton made up 35-40% of textile production, while

approximately 50% was from synthetics, with the rest accounted for by other fibers [10].
Polyester is the dominant synthetic fiber used by volume and the production of polyester is
problematic either [2]. Firstly, it is produced from crude oil, a non-renewable resource,
making the long-term production of this fiber uncertain [20]. Secondly, the manufacturing
process involves high energy inputs which, unless sourced from renewable energy, generate
large amounts of particulates, CO2, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, sulphur oxides and
carbon monoxide subsequently released as atmospheric emissions [21]. Energy requirement
for the spun of one tonne polyester fiber requires between 104,479 and 126,706 MJ, while
for cotton fiber requires 11,711MJ to 25,591MJ [20]. Around 8,000 different synthetic
chemicals are used throughout the world to turn raw materials into textiles, countless of
which may be released into freshwater systems [22]. Only one-third of the textile waste is
composed of natural fiber, the rest is synthetic which do not decompose [13].

Textile and fashion industry is a long chain including raw materials production,
complement production, clothing production and so on [23]. In this trade involves goods to
be transported and international fuel-based transport is important because at least one-third
of global cotton fiber is exported from its country of origin [24]. The transport and shipping
of the raw materials and final products are requiring time and energy.

8
 A study has shown that, the transport of the cotton grown in US fields, fabricated and
sewn in Bangladesh and finally to retailer warehouse in Germany (Figure 3), accounted for
290 grams of CO2 emissions for one T-shirt. While distribution of the garment within
Germany is more high and total contribution is 870 grams of CO2 for each T-shirt [24].

Figure 3: The journey of a T-shirt: from the cotton field in the U.S. via the factory in
Bangladesh to the consumer in Germany [58]

Retailers are waiting to refill their inventory with completely new products before what
was already in their stock was sold. Commonly transportation for the long destination is
truck, ship and airplane or any combination of them that, release other harmful pollutants
into the atmosphere by burning huge amount of fossil fuel.

About 60% of the energy used in the life cycle of a cotton T-shirt is related to post-
purchase washing and drying at high temperatures [2]. These energy sources are also
depending on fossil fuels and the resultant is toxic pollutants. These pollutants are

9
contributing air pollution and increasing the amount of carbon di oxide in the atmosphere.
Burning 1.7kg of fossil fuel leads to releases to air of almost 4kg of CO2 [2].

In figure 3, it shows that the CO2 emission in different phase for a white 100% cotton
T-shirt, size 40-42. The production and consumer use phase each account for almost one-
third of total emissions of a T-shirt.

30.3
IN KG (KILOGRAM)

1.53
1.27

0.87
0.29

0.25
0.24
3

LIFE CYCLE PHASES

Figure 4: CO2 emissions of a T-shirt, white, 100% cotton, size 40-42 [24]

In the era of fast fashion, the rate of purchase and disposal has increased and the trail
of a T-shirt from shop to the landfill has become shorter [25]. Globally above 90 million
clothing items end up in landfill spots every year and directly contributing to the
environmental problems including the emission of greenhouse gases [13]. Only the UK
population buying around two million tons of clothing per year and discards nearly one
million tons of unwanted clothing every year where 50% ends up in landfills [26]. In less
developed countries like Mexico and Poland, 98% of textile waste is sent to landfills [27].
End of unwanted clothes into landfill not only do landfill sites occupied space which could
be used for other purposes, but the degradable natural clothing materials release methane gas

10
when dropped in these environments and can contribute to increase GHG2 [3]. According to
IPCC3 methane gas is 25 times more powerful at warming the atmosphere than carbon
dioxide Around 10 billion KG of cotton was used for apparel making in 2013 and estimated
cradle-to-gate impact of used cotton within the global apparel industry is 107.5 million tons
of CO2 equivalent [28].

A crucial social issue from fast fashion is unethical production. To maintain the low
price for the product manufacturer, need to source cheap raw material and cheap workforce
within a short lead time, and long working hours. ‘Sweatshop4’, it mostly refers to factory
production in which employees are exploited by means of low wages, excessive working
hours, under-age employees or other unfair practices, frequently but not exclusively in
developing economies where labor laws and worker’s rights can be less rigorous.

1.3 Problem discussion- in terms of Bangladesh

The textile and clothing industry has played a major role in Bangladesh’s economy for
a long time. This industry became the backbone of the economy of Bangladesh. Clothing
production is labor intensive, involving relatively low start-up costs and easily transferable
technology. Labor requirements can be met with low and semi-skilled workers, especially
women. Consequently, countries with competitive labor costs, especially in South and East
Asia, have been able to capture significant shares of the world market [29]. Those are the
main reasons for boosting this garments industry in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is the third
largest clothing producer and exporter following China and the European Union. It is
predicted that the garment industries of Bangladesh will continue its growth and will adopt
the market place triple by 2020 [30].

2
GHG = Greenhouse gas

3
IPCC = Intergovernmental panel on climate change

4
Sweatshops = factories with poor working conditions, low wages to employees and long

working hours

11
 In Table 3: A report from World trade organization shows that Bangladesh has the
highest total dependence on textiles and clothing as a total share of merchandise exports
(83.5%), followed by Pakistan (67.2%) and Sri Lanka (47%).

Table 3: Countries with a high dependence on textile and clothing exports as a % of

total merchandise exports, 2006 [57]

Share oftextile and

Textile share intotal Clothing share in total
Economy clothing in
merchandise export merchandise export
merchandise export
Bangladesh 6.9 76.6 83.5
Pakistan 44.1 23.1 67.2
Sri Lanka 2.2 44.8 47
Mauritius 3.6 35.5 39.1
Tunisia 2.9 27.6 30.5
Guatemala 3.0 25.8 28.8
Vietnam 2.0 14.9 16.9

The industry, however, is responsible for significant environmental impacts caused by

their production processes. An important point regarding the environmental impacts of the
garment and fashion concerns the issue of solid waste, produced mainly in the stages of
garment manufacturing. Commercially, garments the production of garments influences
solid waste generation: the higher the production, the greater the amount of waste. Though
apparel industries are playing a vital role in the economy of Bangladesh, but also creating
direct impacts on the environment and social life due to unplanned solid waste management.
The massive production accelerates the environmental footprint of clothes through the whole
life cycle. Improper operations of manufacturing units are producing more solid waste in the
apparel industry of Bangladesh, and it’s one of the most important grounds of environmental
pollution and degradation in many cities and inside the industrial area as well. As it has been
mentioned that, “only the knit apparel industry needs at least 3.155 km of disposal ground
or pipeline. Cleanliness capacity is available to about 40% of the industry only” [31]. Solid
waste generation from fabric and apparel manufacturing is higher than any other phases
(Figure 5).

12
 40%
Apparel, 36.0%
Fabric, 34.4%
35%

30%

25%
Waste %

20%
Resin, 15.2%
15% Fibre, 12.2%
10%

5% Dye, 2.3%
0%
Resin Fabric Dye Fibre Apparel
Solid waste generation stages

Figure 5: Maximum solid waste generation stages [31]

Waste
Figure 1:materials weresolid
Maximum fabric simply
wastethrown
[31] away polluting land and waters around the factory
zones. Uncollected wastes are dumped in open spaces and streets which clog the solid and
rest waste managing system creating serious environmental degradation and health risks
[31]. In the case of Bangladesh, most of the basic raw materials (such as cotton, yarn,
synthetic fabrics etc.) for feeding garment industry is need to import. Hence the scarcity of
raw materials, generating waste during production and throwing it, the country is ultimately
losing the money and materials.

Moreover, this wastes losing its economic potentiality due to the proper monitoring
and management. The impact of this problem is more expensive products, less supply and
the need for innovative alternatives. Collecting the leftover garments from over production
or shipment failure goes to local market for reselling and solid waste from garments
manufacturing goes to recycling centers where the materials are split up and degraded. But
in the thesis, author focus in another alternative for this garment solid waste management,
namely upcycling. This concept starts with reuse of waste materials without degradation. As
upcycling is based on already manufactured waste of products, so upcycled product is more
environmental friendly. Solid waste from garments has its market potentiality which is
possible to gain through sustainable creative way upcycling, rather than recycling.

13
1.4 Purpose of the study

The study makes an attempt to assess the existing solid waste management system of
the apparel industry and the environmental aspects associated with the current practice of
final disposal of solid wastes regarding Bangladesh. The purpose of this study is thus to
assess the penetrating power of the relatively new concept of upcycling of apparel industries
waste to be able to define the potential of solely selling upcycled clothing with least
environmental impact. As an offset to accomplish achieving this purpose, the following
research questions will be the basis of this study:

1.5 Research question

Research question no 1: Is upcycling the garment industries solid waste

environmentally sustainable? In which extent upcycling concept and practice in apparel
industry has an environmental improvement potential?

Research question no 2: How do manufacturer and customer attitudes towards

upcycling affect the waste management culture and economy in Bangladesh?

1.6 Limitations

Small sample size and the limited number of respondents’ that did not allow the author
to get details information and statistics. The conclusive evidence would have matched
properly if there were significant sample size and number of respondents. Conducting an
online survey also had its limitations, as it’s very hard to get the respondents reply in time.
Most of them declined to respond the survey questionnaires, so the author had to work with
the limited data.

14
 Textile waste

In this section, the author gives a summary of the textile waste, to

understand the waste route in textile and clothing sector deeply. This
chapter provides the overview about where the textile waste is being
produced and its type. The purpose of this chapter is to focus on the textile
garments industry waste management system. Proposed waste
management through upcycling and waste hierarchy will also described.
The chapter will close with case studies of garment solid waste
management through upcycling.

2.1 Types of textile and garments waste

Waste is a material that is estimated unusable for its original purpose by the owner.
Considering the fashion chain from raw material extraction to disposal, there are several
phases generates an enormous amount of solid waste. Textile waste can include fashion and
textile industry waste, creates during fiber, textile manufacturing and clothing production.
Generally consumer waste, creates during consumer use and disposal.

Textile waste suitable for fashion design can be divided into three groups based on
their source: post-consumer, pre-consumer and production waste [13]. They are different
from each other in properties and have a different method for proper management.

Post-consumer waste

Post-consumer waste is mainly coming from consumer end use. Post-consumer

textile waste consists of any garment or household textile (such as sheets or towels) that the
consumer no longer needs and decides to discard, either because they are worn out, damaged,
outgrown, or have gone out of fashion. This category has typically been of reasonable to
good quality garment that can be recovered and subsequently recycled by another user as
second-hand clothing. The biggest market for those second-hand clothes is third world
countries. “Clothing that is unlikely to be worn again is potentially functional as it may be
shredded into the fiber to be used in products similar in nature. The remaining ones go to the
landfill. In the post-consumer waste category also includes commercial and industrial textile
applications waste from properties such as carpets and curtains, hospital refuse in addition

15
to industrial applications such as filtration, conveyor belting, etc. Industrial textile waste is
usually “dirty waste.” Collection and chemical contamination issues render this category as
the least likely to be recovered. A substantial proportion of these end-of-life goods are
consigned to landfill” [32].

Pre-consumer waste

In the age of fast fashion, availability of cheaper raw materials and low wages labor
cost, manufacturers always have the intention of overproduction for extra shipment and in
the results, it comes huge leftovers garments after final delivery. Sometimes it comes from
fail shipment due to bad quality or unable to meet the shipment date. That also includes
leftovers from retailers and company product development, defective returned goods, and
outsourced garment shipments that are not redeemed from customs for various reasons.
Pirate product seized by customs which would normally be destroyed also forms a part of
pre-consumer waste [13]. Pre-consumer waste from manufacturer end is demandable in the
local market as well as in black market of branded clothes. And pre-consumer waste from
sales left over, there are various options: some stores can sell them to outlets, thrift, or
discount stores/ website, donate them to charities or foundations, or upcycling to design new
fashion. Reet Aus (2011) also figured out a dark side about the retailers left over. Some
clothing retailers had asked their employees to cut holes in unsold garments and discard
them. Employees were forbidden to keep these garments or to give them to the poor because
this could damage the company’s reputation.

Production waste

Production waste is one type of pre-consumer waste that does not reach the intended
use or user. That consist of by-product solid waste from textile and garments industries. It
mainly comes from the manufacturer not from the consumer. Such waste created because of
mistake in design communication, craftsmanship problem, fabric knitting or weaving faults,
wrong color or shade, machine problems, wrong pattern, wrong consumption,
overproduction and so on. Generated by processing fibers, (be they natural or synthetic
fibers) and the production of finished yarns and textiles, technical textiles, nonwovens,

16
garments and footwear, including off-cuts, selvages, shearings, rejected materials and B-
grade garments. These wastes are usually “clean waste” [32].

2.2 Garment solid waste sources

Garments solid waste is generally production waste which is also considered as pre-
consumer waste as well. Mainly the cutting section and the sewing section are the two units
that produce more fabric solid waste. Besides that, the garment industry has several units
that produce solid waste of fabric which is wholly or partly come as a byproduct of garments
development and manufacturing supply chain.

Storehouse: Storehouse is the beginning point of garments manufacturing industry.

Here all the raw materials are stored before start the development and production of any
style. Inventory also maintain from the store during production and after shipment the final
goods. Storehouse also responsible for inspecting the raw materials for quality and quantity
which are sourced from different supplier. Mainly defective fabrics, fabric rolls end, excess
fabric from sample development stage and various accessories are wastage from the store
room. This wastage are comparatively fresh and new than other wastage.

Cutting wastage: From the cutting table, a significant amount of waste is coming in
garments industry. Wastes in the cutting room can come from several sources including
marker utilization, cutting waste and roll remnants [33]. Different sizes of the cut pieces of
fabrics are main wastage from cutting.

17
 According to the field survey in an industrial city named Narayanganj from
Bangladesh, it was found that 59% waste is generated from garments cutting area. Dyeing is
the following section after cutting which generates 21% of the waste in garments production
chain, Figure 6.

70%

59%
60%

50%
Percentage

40%

30%
21%
20%
13%
10%
3% 4%

0%
Cutting Dyeing Knitting Sewing Others
Gaements production stages

Figure 6: Waste percentage from garments production stages [56]

Cut panel inspection and bundling room: After cutting the fabric layer according
to marker size, cut panels need to inspect and numbering before input in embroidery, printing
and sewing. Here different defective cut panels are separated through inspection. As 100
percent inspection does not occur, so some rejected cut panel may input in the further
production process and this will be ultimately a waste from the production area.

Printing/Embroidery: Sometimes cut panels need to send in printing and

embroidery section before sewing. Here cut panels are rejected due to misprint, shading,
color spot, misplace, needle cut, wrong thread using, shrink after embroidery and so on. Here
also, the different sizes cut panels are main waste.

18
 Stitching: Stitching is a critical zone during garments manufacturing stages.
Machine operators can find out the defective cut panels from the cutting area which came by
mistake in sewing floor. If they are again unable to trace the defective cut panel, then it will
be a waste garment. Various sewing faults which can be major or critical can result in a
garment into waste. some critical sewing faults are broken stitch, skip stitch, using wrong
thread, needle cut, uneven seam line, oil mark etc. Here main wastage are cut panels and full
body which is leftover or rejected due to different issue.

Dyeing and washing: Some garments need to be dyed and washed after sewing. Due
to shade variation, machine problem, workmanship problem some garments are getting a
major or critical fault, and that is considered as waste garments. Full body garment is the
main wastage here.

Finishing: Finishing and packing is the final step in a garments manufacturing

industry. Here the waste comes from ironing, iron spot, measurement variation, scissor cut
during trim the loose thread of garments etc. Here also, full body garment is the main waste.

Table 4, showing the summary of phases and types of garment solid waste.

19
Table 4: Phases and types of garment solid wastes (Source: author’s compilation)

Stages Waste type

Store Defective fabric, end rolls leftover, fabric leftover from

sample development, different accessories.

Cutting Different sizes of cut pieces during lay the fabric and after
cutting.

Bundling Different sizes of cut panels with major and critical defect.

Printing/ Different sizes of cut panels, thread, oily fabric.

embroidery

Stitching
Thread and sweepings, rejected cut panel, rejected body, oily
fabric.

Dyeing and
washing Rejected body.

Finishing
Rejected body, fabric scraps.

2.3 Waste management

Waste management practices can differ for developed and developing nations, for
urban and rural areas, and for residential and industrial producers. Management of non-
hazardous waste residential and institutional waste in metropolitan areas is usually the
responsibility of local government authorities while management for non-hazardous
commercial and industrial waste is usually the responsibility of the generator subject to local,
national or international authorities [33]. As a very limited and more green technology for
textile recycling exist, more of the waste flows through downcycled into wipes, rags or is

20
used as insulation in different industries. The remainder of the waste is either landfilled or
incinerated [34]. Manufacturer and consumer awareness also determine what happens to a
garment waste at the end.

The EU Directive 2008/98/EC introduced in 2008, models a waste hierarchy pyramid

(Figure 7), which is a structure of a priority order to best utilize the waste, shows the model
of waste hierarchy pyramid [35]. The pinnacle of the pyramid reads "Avoidance" which
should be the most preferred option followed by reuse, recycle, recovery and disposal.

More sustainable

Prevention

Reuse

Recycling

Energy recovery

Landfill

Figure 7: EU waste management hierarchy [35]

Landfill

A minimum favored strategy for solid waste treatment. Through landfill, the waste
gets the last destination in or on the land in a controlled or uncontrolled way according to
different sanitary, environmental protection and other safety requirements. Due to the
consequence of cheaper price and lower quality second-hand garments value has fallen and
a huge amount of clothing waste end up in landfill [9]. It is estimated that currently about
70% of disposed clothing and textiles end ups in landfills [36]. It has been estimated that the

21
average person in the UK sends 30kg of unwanted garments to landfills each year adding up
to 2.35 tons of clothing which find its way to UK landfill sites every year [2].

Environment is polluted severely including production of greenhouse gases through

the direct contribution of landfilling garments waste. In landfills this waste causes methane
emissions to air and pollution to groundwater through toxic chemicals [36]. “The carbon
dioxide emissions from natural fibers can be considered as part of the natural flow of
biogenic carbon dioxide emissions. Landfilling of cotton however emits about 0.2kg of CH4
(5kg of CO2-eq.). A pure polyester fiber produces about 2.3kg of fossil CO2 per kg textile
when incinerated but very little when landfilled” [37].

Energy recovery

Incineration with energy recovery is the dominant garments waste treatment

technology in many countries. Incineration could be done with or without energy recovery.
The textiles could also be cut in pieces, compacted, pelletized and used as fuels in boilers or
used in ethanol or biogas production. Collected textile waste from bins and sacks is sent to
incineration together with other collected municipal waste. The recovered heat and power
can potentially replace other sources of energy [37].

The environmental impact of incineration with energy recovery of textile waste is of

minor importance compared to the production of new textiles. But, Incinerator chimneys
emit organic substances such as dioxins, heavy metals, acidic gases and dust particles, which
are all potentially harmful to both humans and the environment. Also, there is a problem
disposing of residual ash which is likely to contain a concentration of toxic material [38].

Recycling

Recycling is concerned with providing the manufacturer with re-processed raw

material to use as an input to make new goods. EU Directive 2008/98/EC defines recycling
as any recovery operation by which waste materials are reprocessed into products, materials
or substances whether for the original or other purposes. Recycling material saves resources
and usually uses less energy than the production of new material [13]. There are several
technologies available or upcoming for recycling textile and garments solid waste. After

22
collection, the process of recycling starts with sorting, which is done by the color, type and
size of fabric. There are two ways for recycling: mechanical and chemical.

Mechanical recycling: Mechanical recycling is the production of fibers and yarns

from discarded fabric pieces. The waste is first cut into small pieces, then passed through a
rotating drum and turned into fibers. The physical properties and quality of the fibers
produced using this method is low due to the mixed color of the fibers and the different fiber
lengths. Recycling of blended fabrics poses a significant challenge, because of the
inhomogeneous nature of the materials. Therefore, the obtained fiber can only be used in
upholstery filling, carpet underlay, sound and heat insulation materials, disposable diapers,
napkins and tampons. One way to improve the quality of this product is to mix these fibers
with virgin fibers and blend them into yarns. Since the properties of such yarns are dependent
on textile quality, they are mostly used in producing woven filtration systems or geotextiles
[39].

Chemical recycling: In principle, Chemical recycling methods can be applied to

synthetic fibers (polyester, nylon or polypropylene) or blends of natural and synthetic fibers.
During chemical recycling processes, the fibers are chemically separated and degraded to
the molecular level. The synthetic feedstock is then repolymerized to new fibers [39].

Recycling allows the material to have extended life in addition to reducing resource
consumption and avoiding disposal cost. Transportation and collection adds to the cost of
final recycled products which makes it more expensive compared to the virgin materials.
Recycling material saves resources and usually uses less energy than the production of new
material.

Downcycling

Another most common mechanical solid waste treatment method is to cut and shred
the fabric into small pieces which can be used as filling in mattresses or upholstery, as
insulation or as carpet underlay [34]. Usually, the quality of material is reduced when it is
reprocessed, and thus this process called downcycling aims to utilize waste materials, reduce
consumption of fresh raw materials, and less environmental impact.

23
 When recycled and downcycled raw materials replace virgin textiles, the
environmental impact is considerably less resource intensive and polluting than the
processes involved in manufacturing textiles from virgin fiber. But they still contain the same
matter which consumes energy and emits pollutants when recovering raw materials by
breaking the waste through the mechanical and chemical process.

Reuse

It can be defined as any operation, where products or components are used again for
the same purpose [40]. This prevents the product to end up being waste and would benefit
the environment by making it available for the consumers who were unable to afford them
in the first place. Reuse the garments waste handle with products in a similar way as
redistribution and resale. Recovery from the waste stream includes re-use of a product in its
original form. Reuse would also mean the utilization of the product as something new serving
a different function. The largest volume of goods is sorted for second-hand clothing markets.
Charity shops receive more donations than they actually can pass on. Therefore, while retail
markets are full of cheap garments, the secondhand markets for reused clothes are also
saturated [9]. “Consumers in the UK yearly use 35 kg garment per person, among this one-
eighth is sent for re-use through charities and the rest is discarded. Reusing can also generate
profit: in 2000 alone the second-hand sector was worth over one billion dollars in the United
States” [2]. Over 70% of the world’s population uses second-hand clothes; this would equate
to 4.2 billion people [41].

Although it is listed separately in waste hierarchy, product reuse can be related to a form of
waste prevention as both them intend to reduce the amount of waste requiring collection
[42]. Reusing of textiles reduce the amount of waste stream and thus lower the harmful
content in the environment. Reusing garments significantly help reduce the negative
environmental impact of fashion textiles. For example, the energy used to collect, sort, and
resell second-hand garments is between 10–20 times less than that needed to make a new
item [36].

24
 Prevention

Waste prevention is a preferable option for the waste management. Furthermore, the
best stride of the waste management framework, waste prevention gets more consideration
as of late because of the immense deformities of conventional pollution control. However, it
also brings in great side-effects when reducing pollutants, such as the secondary pollution
problem, the extra investment for the treatment facility and so on [43]. Based on the EU
waste directive [35], “prevention means measures taken before a substance, material or
product has become waste, which can reduce: the quantity of waste, including through the
reuse of products or the extensive of the life span of products; the adverse impacts of the
generated waste on the environment and human health; the content of harmful substances in
materials and products”.

Waste prevention is always the best option to get the maximum result from input and
least negative impact on the environment. Prevention of waste reduce production cost and
thus help the industry to get more profit. It also reduces the amount of landfill and material
consumption. Sometimes the tactics of prevention can become innovative that opens
opportunity towards lean manufacturing5. Although waste prevention can't take care of the
whole waste discharge issue, it offers a cost-efficient way to minimize the quantity of waste
lastly can be the best practice for an organization or a nation.

Upcycling

Upcycling refers to reuse of leftover which is treated as waste and the final product
quality remains the same or is improved by the creativity. Recently the most sustainable
development in fashion textile industry is called upcycling. As a part of the sustainable
strategy for design and recreation, up-cycling gives freedom to a designer with the reassess
opportunity of real value of waste. This concept developed through utilizing waste into new
product without any recycle or downcycle process. It is the beginning of a process where
already produced materials are not discarded, but re-used to provide new, high-quality

5
Lean manufacturing or lean production, often simply "lean", is a systematic method for the elimination of
waste within a manufacturing system.

25
products in a creative way. The upcycling method, or upward re-processing, is defined as
bringing waste back into the consumption chain through design by placing it higher up in
the chain than it previously was – this includes environmental as well as commercial and
aesthetical value – while also accounting for the product’s future [44].

Recycling is great but in contrast with upcycling, recycling need the energy and
resources to collect, sort out and reprocess the waste for recovering the raw materials.
Compared to recycling waste recovery system, upcycling brings about the greatest change
with the least amount energy and water use. Moreover, till now upcycling is an even greener
way of recycling, and better environmental performance. By making use of already existing
materials the consumption of new raw materials for new products is reduced which can result
in a reduction of energy usage, air pollution, water pollution and CO2 emissions. As per zero
waste International Alliance, zero waste is a philosophy that encourages the reuse of
materials where any trash sent to landfills is minimal. It is seen as an ultimate goal, and it
means an end to recycling. Upcycling is an incremental step towards achieving zero waste
[45]. According to Reet Aus [13] “Another advantage of upcycling is its intra-sector
approach: problems are solved within the textile industry, not at the level of waste
management.”

Figure 8: Textile waste strategies – upcycling, recycling, reuse [13]

26
 The effect on the environment from textile material generation is most certainly
negative. Utilizing pre-existing material and making a new garment is much more
environmentally sustainable than recycling, downcycling, disposing or using new materials.
Upcycling realizes the best change with a minimal portion of water and energy use. By
means of upcycling, the source material moves from the most minimal to the maximum value
chain by the recreation and redesign. Upcycling all about to upgrading the leftover or waste
material and making it more desirable than it was at the beginning. By allowing the largest
possible amount of textile waste to be given new value, up-cycling solves the problems
associated with fashion textile waste [13].

Environmental and economic benefits of garment solid waste upcycling at a glance:

 Save the land need for landfilling.

 Garment solid waste present particular problems in landfill as synthetic fabrics will
not decompose, which pollute soil and water, while woolen garments decompose and
produce methane, which contributes to global warming.
 Reduce fresh raw material consumption.
 Save money which is need for import raw materials, and thus saves energy or water
as well for producing raw materials.
 Reusing the production leftover or waste as direct input material for new product,
helps to save energy as it do not need further reprocessing.
 Upcycling can be done within the same factory facility and it helps to save money
and time for transport.
 Upcycling obliges imagination to imagine the capability of existing materials to
make something new and lovely.

2.4 Waste hierarchy including upcycling

Upcycling sublime the waste and is an environmental friendly way of re-using

material without any physical or chemical process. Compared to the above-mentioned waste
recovery strategies, upcycling brings about the greatest change with the least amount of
energy use Upcycling can upgrade the waste simply creative, logical and more marketable.
Generally, the more creative the change of an upcycled good, the more marketable it is.

27
Without discarding a waste, upcycle begin with the re-use of waste. Thus, upcycling is a
dynamic change of waste combining economic and as well as reducing waste. Recycled
textiles can be upcycled into higher value or more technically demanding applications, or
downcycled into less demanding, lower value applications [46].Via upcycling, the source
material moves from the lowest to the highest level of the production cycle [13]. Making
new clothing out of pre-existing material is usually more environmentally sustainable than
recycling, disposing of, or using new materials [13].

Upcycling as a concept was first used in the context of waste management. By Reiner
Pilz this term first used. In 1994 he gave an interview where he criticised the EU Demolition
waste streams directive and asked the strategy of recycling. According to his word,
“Recycling, I call it downcycling. They smash bricks, they smash everything. What we need
is upcycling, where old products are given more value not less” [13]. In the book “Cradle
to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things”, William McDonough and Michael
Braungart incorporated this concept [44]. So, considering upcycling as more sustainable
than recycling, the revised hierarchy of waste management is as follows:

Prevention
Reuse
Upcycling
Recycle/do
Energy wncycle
Landfill recovery

Figure 9: Waste management ladder including upcycling (Source: author’s compilation)

28
2.5 Upcycling design examples

To many of us upcycling seems a new concept and have not done yet. Even most of us
are not aware of the term upcycling. But the true fact is upcycling is now a rapidly growing
industry around the world. Specifically, in Europe and America, there are many reputed
sustainable designers and companies who are running the business by designing, promoting
and selling upcycled clothes and goods. They are using leftover and waste from garment
manufacturing while creating beautiful unique products.

Reet Aus

Reet Aus Phd is a pioneer fashion designer from Estonia and her creations have
followed the principles of upcycling. She started working as fashion designer in 1997.
Since 2002 all her collections are based on upcycling concept. The international
sustainable design brand she runs and the website www.reetaus.com, is not like a regular
usual e-commerce clothes selling site. Selling in Europe as well as in the U.S, the Reet
Aus brand is a forerunner in turning industrial leftovers into sustainable fashion.

Figure 10: Reet Aus designed garment from production waste [13]

29
 Through her Phd dissertation: Trash to Trend- using upcycling in fashion design, she
opened novel potentials of upcycling in fashion design and mass production. Trash to
Trend (www.trashtotrend.com) is a platform for the upcycling designers, which is led
by her research activities. Designers who would like to control their production chain,
who want to produce locally, and who wish to employ sustainable fashion design
techniques in their work are the main target group of the Trash to Trend model [13]. It
provide the solution for the manufacturer who are interested in sustainable waste
management of their waste and the clients who would like to see the chain activities of
the product supplier.

Based on upcycling concept, a certifiable method developed named, “UPMADE®”,

to turn leftovers into valuable goods, eliminating waste and preceding recycling
practices in mass production. In the beginning of the mass production process, Reet Aus
collections use the UPMADE® method. This certification process conducted in-depth
review of the company's manufacturing operations and the problem of waste from
production and qualities. This successful method improved effectiveness of sustainable
waste management and reduced environmental impacts. Each item produced uses on
average 70 percent less water and 88 percent less energy compared to a regular product
[47].

Beximco

In Bangladesh, an example of industrial upcycling production is gaining motion.

Beximco (Bangladesh Export-Import Company) is one of the biggest garment manufacturers
in South-East Asia and one of the world’s largest vertically integrated factories with in house
analytical and creative abilities. They have production capacity over 200 million garments
annually [47]. Mountains of leftover textiles that usually get dumped into a landfill are now
partly upcycled into additional fashion collections.

30
 Figure 21: Upcycled production line in Beximco [47]

Beximco has partnered with Aus Design to analyze, reduce and eventually eliminate the
waste created in Beximco while producing the first mass production Upcycling program.
Beximco was the first manufacturer to receive UPMADE® Certification for their woven and
jersey production lines. Upcycling systems helps to recover the fabric waste from production
and specially-trained sewing teams from Beximco create upcycled products ready for wear.

31
 Garment industry in Bangladesh

This section presents the overall situation of garment industry in

Bangladesh. The purpose of this chapter is to focus on the textile garment
industry since the beginning of the journey, gradual growth and spreading,
facts and statistics. Problem discussion in terms of Bangladesh from this
industry will also be described and the chapter will close with current
practices of garments solid waste management.

3.1 History, growth and challenges

The history of setting up garment industry in Bangladesh is quite recent compared to

other industries. The garment industry of Bangladesh started its journey four decades ago.
“After liberation during late 70's the garment industries started to grow up based on the
domestic market. In 1978 M/S Reaz Garments Ltd first and formally exported 10,000 pcs of
men’s shirts to France. It was only worth 13 million francs. The largest and latest technology
used in garment manufacturing in 1977 by Desh Garments Ltd through a joint venture signed
up with South Korean Daewoo company” [48].

After 1982 the government began to provide various incentives to the garments
industry. Among them duty-free import of machinery, bonded warehouse facilities and cash
incentives were significant. As a consequence, a number of garment industries rapidly
increased following the export-oriented garment trend. The export amount increased rapidly
from 1.3 million USD to 116.2 million USD during 1981 to 1984 [48]. This industry was
brought under the MFA6 quota in 1986 and this quota system favored Bangladeshi producers
by protecting them from international competition [49]. Thus, Bangladesh stepped into a
new promised land of prosperity with average growth rate of 20.55% in last 19 years.

6
The Multi Fibre Arrangement (MFA) governed the world trade in textiles and garments from 1974 through
2004, imposing quotas on the amount developing countries could export to developed countries.

32
 Growth of garment factories in Bangladesh
6000

No of factories 5000

4000

3000

2000

1000

0
200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 201 201 201 201
0-01 1-02 2-03 3-04 4-05 5-06 6-07 7-08 8-09 9-10 0-11 1-12 2-13 3-14
No. of factories 2377 2982 3252 3571 3988 4220 4490 4743 4925 5063 5085 5091 5103 5027

Figure 12: Growth of garment factory in Bangladesh since 2000- 2014 [49]

Growth of garment production in Bangladesh

900

800
QUANTITY IN MILLION DOZEN PCS

700

600

500

400

300

200

100

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Knit 52.54 63.39 69.18 91.6 120.1 165 199.5 241.6 290.9 292.7 441 444.2 478.2 512.2
Woven 71.48 77.05 88.83 90.48 92.26 108.8 133.1 147.4 169.6 172.8 247.3 281.6 306.3 340.7
Total 124 140.4 158 182.1 212.4 273.8 332.6 389 460.5 465.5 688.3 725.9 784.5 852.9

Figure 13: Growth of garment production in Bangladesh since 2000- 2014 [49]

BGMEA (Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association) is the main

organization formed by the garment manufacturers in 1982 [48]. BGMEA provide the

33
necessary assistance to the members factory and exporters in a various way. Although export
quantity of Bangladeshi garment products have increased, the country is facing different
challenges in its regular evolution. There are several factors that are working behind facing
challenges in garment industries. The global recession is one of the important issues to
mention for which many foreign buyers placing less orders from Bangladesh. Safety issue is
another major challenge of the Bangladeshi garment industries. Several fire incident and
building collapse including thousands of workers death and injuries. These are the most red
signals and burning topic for the clothing retailer and consumers around the world. Besides
these, increase of production costs due to raw material and energy, increasing labour costs,
unstable political situation and unfriendly trade policies also putting this industry in the
challenge nowadays.

3.2 Facts and statistics

The first consignment of apparel export from Bangladesh was made with knitwear
items in the late 1970s. But it was the woven sector which flourished significantly by the
middle of 80s and holds the rank of the largest export earning sector for the last three decades.
“Combining these both knitwear and woven, the apparel industry contributes now more than
81 percent to the national export (Figure 14), 14.06 percent contribution to the national GDP
[49].

34
 Jute and jute goods 2.73%
Leather and leather product 2.47%
Agricultural product 2.04%
Frozen food 2.11%
Exported items

Other 3.82%
Engineering product 1.21%
Footwear 1.82%
Home textile 2.63%
Woven Grments 41.23%
Knitwear 39.93%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%

Export %

Figure 14: Item wise export percentage of Bangladesh FY 2013-2014 [49]

This sector plays an imperative role in the reduction of poverty to a minimum level by
creating 4.02 million direct employments and 75% of the labor force is women” [49]. Thus,
it contributing directly in the socio-economic development of Bangladesh.

Figure 15: Growth of employment through garments industry in Bangladesh since 2000- 2014
[49]

35
3.3 Garments solid waste management in Bangladesh

No inventory has been made to assess the extent of fabric and solid waste in
Bangladesh from apparel industry and no regulations specifically deals with waste in the
country. Most of the industries do not have any idea how much waste they are producing.
Government has taken initiative to prepare a fabric solid waste management policy and
preparation management policy and preparation work for this policy has started Bangladesh
inside and outside of the apparel industry, is a signatory to Basel Convention prohibiting
Trans-boundary movement of solid waste [50].

Garments leftover in Bangladesh locally called “Jhoot” by the traders of it.

According to Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA)
sources, there are some 4,500 active RMG units producing over 351,000 tons of by-products.
It is assuming that a typical factory produces around 250 kg of waste fabric per day. There
is no formal data available about garment manufacturing by-products are given by authorities
in Bangladesh. The price of waste cloth depends on quality and size, starting from 0.10 cents
and going up to 4.00 Euro per kilogram. According to the Bangladesh Garment and Textile
Waste Exporters Association (BGTEA), the market size of RMG by-products is over 200
million Euro if the waste management is working correctly [51].

So-called informal recycling of waste materials left by clothing industry has

developed as a decent wage creating hotspot for some individuals as of late. Each and every
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. Costs likewise change alongside the business
sector cost of fabric and different items. After collection, the process of recycling starts with
sorting, which is done by the color, types and sizes of fabric. Cotton garments and white
garments cost more as these are broadly used to reproduce cotton and yarn. The broken fabric
parts and exceedingly shredded mixed clothes are recycled into low-grade waste cotton. This
raw cotton is contributing in bedding industry of Bangladesh by providing raw materials for
mattress, pillows, cushions. Seat stuffing and padding in cars, public buses and rickshaws
are usually done with these recycled clothes and processed cotton.

36
 While the trade of garment waste is thriving with the pace of the garment industry,
problems related to this informal sector are many. The jhoot business in Bangladesh basically
has three step process. The first, person usually a powerful local person collects the cloth
forcibly or via negotiations from factory owner, then it is sold to the reuse or recycling
business and then the final product is sold to different consumers and exported. Conflicts
among nearby musclemen over control of the exchange happen every now and then, some
of the time prompting significantly killings. Since the division is still casual and keeps
running with little speculation without a solid establishment, provocation by a political
leader, police and local goons for toll is a regular occurrence. Factory owners alleged that
influential local political leaders foment labor unrest as a pretext to contact factory owners
and then try to wrest control of the business under the pretense of subduing the workers.

The country is being deprived of the benefits from the ready-made garments waste
and by-products. As a result the lion’s share of jhoot gets exported to India and China. The
negative thought about the jhoot exchange is gradually blurring endlessly. It would even be
entirely feasible to develop a new trade and secure a huge amount of foreign currency.

37
 Methodology

The selection of method formation the empirical and theoretical

information collection will be presented and motivated in this chapter. The
aim is to clarify the methods that have been chosen to do a reliable research
of the topic of this thesis. A presentation of intercession and application of
the methods will also be introduced. The chapter ends with a description
of the research data analysis process.

4.1 Research design

The research aims to assess the adaptation and integration of upcycling in the garments
manufacturing industry in Bangladesh. The research design is investigative survey research
that is used to answer the question about current waste management system, how much
satisfied with current practice, perspective of upcycling and the barrier to implementing
upcycling. This study consists the following steps:

Research design

Sample design

Survey

Data collection

Data analysis

Figure 16: Main steps of study (Source: author's compilation)

To discourse the research questions in a quantified way the information assembly

should adopt numerical data. Through online survey using a five-point Likert scale
measuring both current system experience and perceptions of upcycling. Each of the five

38
scale responses would have a numerical value which would be used to measure the attitude
under investigation. Likert-type or frequency scales use fixed choice response formats and
are designed to measure attitudes or opinions [52]. These ordinal scales measure levels of
agreement or disagreement. Since Likert scale does not allow only yes or no answer, but
rather allow for degrees of opinion and even neutral option. Therefore, quantitative data is
gained, which means that the data can be examined with relative ease.

This study is based on the questions concerning the grow of manufacturer perception
rather than the explanation of their behavior. Another purpose of such communication is to
get a clear concept of the actions what they are doing in reality and focus on the wholeness
rather than the parts of the theoretical framework. Having direct information is essential to
get the current situation. The manner allows for taking practical findings where the further
discussion leads to the conclusion. The components of the research project are as follows:

i. Identifying the garment production type.

ii. Investigating the current garment solid waste management in Bangladesh.
iii. Understand their satisfaction toward sustainability with their current practice.
iv. Examining the perception of upcycling as a sustainable alternative in
Bangladesh.
v. Trying to figure out the conditions, challenges and support to start upcycling
in Bangladesh.

4.2 Sample and sampling design

The research has been conducted within garment manufacturing companies in

Bangladesh, those who are listed as a general member in BGMEA7. The category of the
garment industries including four major types knit, woven, sweater and non woven.

7
BGMEA= Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.

39
According to the data from Ministry of labor and employment in Bangladesh, there are 4765
verified RMG8 factories (Table 5).

Table 5: Number of garment factory by district area [53]

District name No. of factory Chosen factory no

Chandpur 1
Chittagong 674 65
Comilla 7
Dhaka (Capital) 1961 180
Feni 3
Gazipur 1297 100
Magura 2
Manikganj 4
Munshiganj 2
Mymensingh 43
Narayanganj 734 70
Narsingdi 17
Nawabganj 1
Noakhali 2
Pabna 4
Rangpur 1
Tangail 12
Total 4765 415

8
Ready-made garments.

40
 Although there is no consensus about the exact waste management statistics and the
absence of waste management strategy in those factories, this particular research has
conducted within the random garment factory from the four top industrial zones in
Bangladesh. These four major garment production industries are located in capital Dhaka
including with the neighbor district Gazipur, Narayanganj and port city Chittagong (Figure
17).

Figure 17: Chosen factory area (Star marked) in the Bangladesh map [58]

41
 The extensive amount of garment industries solid waste are generated in this four
industrial area daily. In this study total 415 random garment factories are selected based on
their location, contact information availability. Some pioneer and the leader in the field of
fashion and garments manufacturing are included. Among them A Plus Ind. Ltd, Abanti
colour tex Ltd, ACS textiles (Bangladesh) Ltd, AJ fashions Ltd, Ananta apparels Ltd, A-Plus
sweater factory, Basic apparels Ltd, Beximco Apparels Ltd, Concorde garments Ltd, Cotton
clothing (BD) Ltd, Dekko designs Ltd, Divine fashion (Pvt.) Ltd, Echotex Ltd, Envoy
fashions Ltd, Epyllion knitex Ltd, Fakir apparels Ltd, Starlight Sweaters, Square fashions
Ltd, UTAH fashions Ltd, Viyellatex Limited etc. are mentionable.

Some of the factories have their own waste management system, but all of them are
considering solid waste from ETP9 sludge, kitchen and dining waste. Their sustainable
activities are more relevant to social compliance, safety and health issues absence of proper
policy regarding sustainable pre-consumer manufacturing waste management from garment
factories. The author of this paper has found the only factory from Bangladesh is Bangladesh
Export-Import Company (Beximco) is related with industrial upcycling. It is one of the
biggest clothing manufacturer in south-east Asia. Beximco is the first manufacturer from
Bangladesh, which is effectively integrated upcycling production and circular economic
principles into their business. The upcycled clothing brand from Estonia Reet Aus
(www.reetaus.com) brand is running their production unit in Beximco and turning industrial
leftovers into sustainable fashion.

From this research, both party those who can manufacture upcycled cloth and those
who are upcycled cloth retailer might get the benefit. Retailers can be more aware of the
manufacturer awareness, possibilities and experience regarding upcycle in Bangladesh.
Also, this research will benefit the future researchers, educators and students for academic
research purposes.

9
Effluent treatment plant.

42
4.3 Research process and data collection

The research process is the way of conducting research and collecting data for
particular research. There are two procedures conducting research and they are qualitative
and quantitative.

Qualitative method: Qualitative data collection and data analysis methods are widely
adaptable and can be applied across research subject and problem type. Qualitative method
is more relevant when the study deals with an issue that has not yet been carefully researched
[54]. Qualitative data collection methods can help researchers understand not only consumer
experience but also their views about products and services.

Quantitative method: Quantitative method are supportive of high-quality study

design, assessment of research decision making around study outcome, and evaluation of
dissemination channels for study findings. In this study, quantitative method have been used,
because, it is the systematic empirical investigation of observable phenomena via descriptive
statistical, mathematical or computational techniques.

For this particular research, the author selected the quantitative research process. More
interestingly, communication procedure was very easy due to social media opportunities.
Also, the research conducted from Estonia to Bangladesh. As a result, quantitative research
was very convenient for the author to collect the data.

Data collection is the process of gathering and measuring information on variables of

interest, in an established systematic fashion that enables one to answer stated research
questions, test hypothesis, and evaluate outcomes. There are two types’ data that can be
collected: primary data and secondary data.

Primary data: Data used in research originally obtained through the direct efforts of
the researchers through surveys, interview, and direct observation. Primary data is costlier
to obtain than the secondary data. However, for this particular research primary data was
collected by the quantitative survey which consists of 9 main questions. All the major
questions are closed questions to be easier for the respondent to answer, but also be able to

43
analyze on a more standardized manner the result. In the question no 2, 3 and 4 respondents
could give multiple answer according to their factory type and waste management practice.
The questionnaire is comprised of 3 questions group. All of the questions were obligatory,
but the personal data such as name, company name and email were allowed to be optional.
As sometimes people do not like to share their personal information due to privacy or
confidential matter for the company.

Table 6: Questionnaire structure (Source: survey questionnaire)

1 General questions about the respondent position, factory product type Question:
and their clients type. 1 to 3

2 Current waste management system and how sustainable their current Question:
practice. 4 to 5

3 Perspective of upcycling in Bangladesh, circumstances, challenges and Question:

support to start upcycling. 6 to 9

The questionnaire was distributed using various channels. Survey was sent directly to
the garment factories contact email in Bangladesh which is collected from the BGMEA
website (http://www.bgmea.com.bd/member/memberlist). Through social media sites
author wrote to known friends who are working in textile and garment sector in Bangladesh.
To collect more responses later on author started to contact with factory personnel via phone
call.

Secondary data: Secondary data refers to data that was collected by someone other
than the user. Common sources of secondary data that collected by government departments,
organizational records, and data that was originally collected for other research purposes.
For the secondary data, the author used various recent articles, research that has been
conducted previously related to this topic, different websites, as well some books. Secondary

44
data was collected to give the theatrical overview of the study. As upcycling is a
comparatively new concept and do not have enough study regarding Bangladesh, so it was
bit difficult to collect and review information from few resources. That’s why author gained
concept from various sources and website as well.

4.4 Data analysis

Data was analyzed in this study using descriptive statistics. For the easy interpretation
mean or mode score were used to determine the attitude, opinion towards their current waste
management system and the future perspective of upcycling in Bangladesh. Collected data
was presented in table, bar diagram and pie chart.

45
 Survey data analysis and presentations

In this chapter, a short description of the respondents’ views of the most

significant areas will be presented together with an analysis of the survey
results, derived from the online survey questionnaire.

5.1 Demographic data

According to the aim of the thesis research question, the author conducted a survey to
find the answer of the particular research questions. The survey was sent to 415 companies
from the four main industrial zones in Bangladesh, those operate mainly export oriented
garment production. The survey was open for a month and a total of 64 responses was
collected. Among 64 responses, 1 response author collected for survey testing and 3 other
responses have not counted due to respondents misunderstanding about the concept and their
current waste management practice. So, among 64 responses 60 responses were collected
and 4 replies were not counted for data analysis.

In the first question, instead of asking personal information, author started with the
personnel position in the company. Here author kept it blank without mentioning a list of
specific position, as there are various positions at the management level within a garment
industry due to long production chain. After analyzing the survey data, author found 11
different positions from the respondents. Among them, maximum respondents were 13
Production manager followed by the positions 11 General managers, 10 Managing directors
and so on. The following figure represents the number of respondents’ position in the
selected companies:

46
 14 13
12 11
10
10
Number 8
6
6 5
4 4
4 3
2
2 1 1
0

Respondent's position

Figure 18: Number of respondents’ position (Source: author's compilation)

From the result, it is very clear that most of the respondents holding a vital position and
they are usually concern about important information of the company. As a result, the author
believes also all the personnel knowledge regarding their current solid waste management,
concept and perspective of upcycling are acceptable.

In the question number 2, the author asked about the factory type based on their product.
The author listed 4 major factory type based on product and also gave an option for any
unusual product based factory. Respondents were allowed to select more than one option.
However, number of respondents were higher in the field of knit garment factory and the
total number was 29. Then the woven garment factory was 21 followed by 8 sweater
factories. There were 7 factories who have both knit and woven production facility and also
found 2 non-woven factories. Nobody selected others as an option for their garment factory
product type.

The result from the major factory types based on product is very significant from the
perspective of this study. Because the waste generation percentage is different from one to
another and waste management also varies based on the product. Knit fabric solid waste
producing rate is comparatively high and mostly contacted by the environment in the soil

47
ground [31]. As a result, the result from this question is very important for the rest of the
study. Figure 19 represents the respondents’ factory type based on the product:

29
No. of factory

14

7 8

Knit and Knit Woven Sweater Non woven

Woven
Product type

Figure 19: No. of garment factory based on product (Source: author's compilation)

In the survey question number 3, the author wanted to know about the respondents’
customer type. In this stage, author intended to figure out for whom the respondents are
making clothes for; whether they can be a branded corporate customer from developed
country or a privately owned small customer. In this question author mentioned this both
corporate and private customer option including the other option for any uncommon case.
However, corporate customer number were higher and 46 factories have corporate
customers. Private customers were only in 6 factories and 8 factories have both corporate
and private customers.

48
 Both
13%

Private
10%

Corporate
77%

Figure 20: Respondents factories customer type (Source: author's compilation)

The result from the question, main customer type of the factories also helpful in this
field of study. Because those industries have a corporate customer they tend to follow more
compliance and environmental rules. As factories need to pass the few criteria before getting
the order from the corporate client like H&M, Zara, Walmart, Tesco etc.

In the survey question number four, the author asked about current waste management
system of the respondents to get an overview of current waste management system in
Bangladesh. In this question, the author mentioned 6 general waste management system in
terms of Bangladesh, which is obtained from secondary data and previous work experience
of the author in Bangladesh textile and garment sector. Here author also mentioned other
option for any unusual method from any respondent. Figure 21, represents the summary of
the result.

49
 Fully involved Partially involved

2
Sending away for landfill.
8

In house burning for energy (heat and 0

waste management options

electricity). 0

0
Upcycling to new piece of cloths.
1

In house recycling/downcycling for 4

recover materials. 0

14
Selling to other company.
11

26
Selling to local waste trader.
12

No. of respondent's

Figure 21: Current solid waste management system of respondents

(Source: author's compilation)

According to the result, 26 factories selling their waste to local waste traders when 12
other company also involved with this partially due to their mix waste management system.
14 factories selling their waste to the other company and 11 factories are partially involved
with it. Only 4 factories found who are involve with in-house recycling or downcycling for
recovering materials. No factory found who have in-house burning facility to recover energy.
Only one factory found who are involved with upcycling partially along with other regular
waste management system. Here only 2 factories are sending away their waste for landfilling
as part of their regular waste management practice but it also found that 7 other factories
also partially involve with this practice. So, total 46 factories found with the single waste
management system and other 14 factories have a mix of any two or more waste management
system practice.

50
5.2 Perception data

In this stage of the survey, the author wanted to measure the level of agreement or
disagreement of the respondents related to their current waste management system,
perception of upcycling, supportive conditions of upcycling, challenges and incentives to
starting upcycling in Bangladesh. Here author used Likert rating as the questionnaire tool
and applied 5-point scale version.

In the question number 5, the author wanted to know the respondent's level of
agreement with the statements regarding their current waste management system. The author
here mentioned 6 statements which represent some of the major environmental and
economical sustainable statement.

The first statement is “low rate of waste disposal,” where majority 21 respondents
disagreed with it and 20 respondents agreed, 10 respondents were neutral. The next statement
is “low material consumption in the clothing industry” meant does their current waste
management system help to reduce the consumption of fresh raw material in the clothing
industry? 18 respondents agreed with this statement and 14 respondents disagreed while 14
were also neutral. The third statement, “water and energy saving” meant does their current
waste management system help to save water and energy throughout the process? Maximum
23 respondents disagreed with this statement, 16 respondents were neutral and 11
respondents agreed with it. 8 respondent disagreed completely and 2 respondents agreed
completely with this statement. Following the fourth statement is “Less pollution and
environmental impact”. With this statement, most 20 respondents disagreed, 18 respondents
agreed and 13 respondents were neutral. The fifth statement is “Efficient time and money
use” which means the effectiveness of money and time saving all over the process of their
current waste management. The Higher number, total 27 of respondents disagreed, 14
respondents agreed and 9 respondents were neither agree nor disagree. The final and sixth
statement is “High product value.” It means is their waste getting the maximum price or the
end product from waste getting proper value? Total 19 respondents do not agree with this
statement, 16 respondents agreed and 8 respondents were neutral. 4 respondents completely
disagreed and 5 respondents completely agreed. Following table 7, represents the level of

51
agreement or disagreement with the statements of the respondent’s current solid waste
management system.

Table 7: Respondents perception of current waste management system

(Source: author's compilation)

Strongly Neither agree

Statements Disagree. Agree. Strongly agree
disagree. nor disagree.

1. Low rate of waste

6 10% 21 35% 10 17% 20 33% 3 5%
disposal.
2. Low material consumption
5 8% 14 23% 14 23% 18 30% 9 15%
in clothing industry.

3. Water and energy saving. 8 13% 23 38% 16 27% 11 18% 2 3%

4. Less pollution and

6 10% 20 33% 13 22% 18 30% 3 5%
environmental impacts.
5. Efficient time and money
4 7% 27 45% 9 15% 14 23% 5 8%
use.

6. High product value. 12 20% 19 32% 8 13% 16 27% 4 7%

In question number 6, respondents were asked agree or disagree with the perspective
of upcycling as a sustainable alternative in Bangladesh. the author mentioned here total 10
statements which represent some basic environmental, social and economic sustainable
necessities.

First statement about reduces the consumption of fresh raw material in clothing
industry through upcycling. 29 respondents agreed with it, 15 respondents completely agreed
and 12 respondents were neutral. In second statement author intended to know how do they
see their leftover which is treated as waste, can be valuable input material for upcycling
production. And here maximum number of respondents agreed with this statement. In third
and fourth statement author wanted to know the agreement/disagreement level of
respondents that through upcycling it is possible to save water, energy, time and money. As
upcycling is possible to do with the leftover from factory current production and within the

52
same factory. Data chart (Table 8) shows the higher level of agreement of the respondents
for both statements.

In the fifth and sixth statement, author asked the level of agreement/disagreement
about the reduction of air, water pollution and another environmental impact throughout
upcycling practice. 26 respondents agreed, 22 respondents completely agreed with the
statement reduction of air and water pollution. While maximum 28 respondents agreed and
12 respondents completely agreed with the statement of lowering the other environmental
impacts. The seventh statement is a socially sustainable parameter refers the worker and
local people health quality. It’s an important social compliance issue in Bangladesh after the
working place safety and wages issue. For this statement, maximum 27 respondents found
neutral, 16 respondents agreed and 11 agreed strongly. In the eighth and ninth statement
respondents were asked to agree/ disagree with the possibility to gain higher value added
product from waste and to open a new possibility of business through upcycling. With the
both statements, respectively 28 and 28 respondents agreed, also 16 and 22 respondents
completely agreed. And the final statements asked the agreement/disagreement about the
attraction of new investor for boost up the upcycling concept as the sustainable alternative
of current waste management system in Bangladesh. 23 respondents agreed and 19
respondents completely agreed while only 4 respondents disagreed. Meanwhile, 14
respondents were neutral with this final statement.

Table 8, represents the survey result summary and level of agreement/disagreement

with the perspective of upcycling as sustainable alternative in Bangladesh.

53
Table 8: Respondents’ perceptions on the perspective of upcycling in Bangladesh (Source:
author's compilation)

Strongly Neither agree Strongly

Statements disagree
Disagree
nor disagree
Agree
agree
1. Will reduce the consumption
2 3% 2 3% 12 20% 29 48% 15 25%
of raw material.
2. Production leftover/waste
0 0% 2 3% 6 10% 26 43% 26 43%
can be valuable input material.
3. Possible to save water or
1 2% 2 3% 4 7% 30 50% 23 38%
energy.
4. Possible to save time or
0 0% 6 10% 12 20% 25 42% 17 28%
money.
5. Will reduce air and water
2 3% 5 8% 5 8% 26 43% 22 37%
pollution.
6. Will lower the other
0 0% 7 12% 13 22% 28 47% 12 20%
environmental impacts.
7. Will improve the workers or
0 0% 6 10% 27 45% 16 27% 11 18%
local public health quality.
8. Possible to gain in value
0 0% 5 8% 11 18% 28 47% 16 27%
chain of the product from waste.
9. A new possibility to do
0 0% 1 2% 9 15% 28 47% 22 37%
business.
10. Will attract a good number
0 0% 4 7% 14 23% 23 38% 19 32%
of investor.

In the question number 7, author projected to know the supportive conditions of

upcycling by mentioning 5 basic statements. These statements represent the requirements
about the penetration of upcycling as a new concept. The first statement is about the client
interests for the upcycled goods. Most 30 respondents agreed and 22 respondents completely
agreed with this statement. Next statement is about the favorable market condition for doing
upcycled clothing business. Here also 24 respondents agreed and 14 respondents completely
agreed while 18 respondents were neutral. Low competition is the third statement maximum
26 respondents were neutral, 16 respondents agreed. Meanwhile, 11 respondents disagreed.
With the fourth statement, most of the respondents strongly agreed which said about the
interest of manufacturer towards upcycling. 33 respondents strongly agreed and other 21
respondents agreed as well. Final and fifth statement is about supportive legislation for

54
upcycling. With this statement, 18 respondents agreed while 23 respondents completely
agreed. Table 9, represents the respondents perception about the supportive conditions of
upcycling.

Table 9: Respondents perception about the supportive conditions of upcycling

(Source: author's compilation)

Strongly Neither agree

Statements Disagree Agree Strongly agree
disagree nor disagree

1. Clients are interested. 0 0% 1 2% 7 12% 30 50% 22 37%

2. Market conditions are
1 2% 3 5% 18 30% 24 40% 14 23%
favorable.
3. Low Competition. 2 3% 11 18% 26 43% 16 27% 5 8%
4. Manufacturer are
1 2% 3 5% 2 3% 21 35% 33 55%
Interested.
5. Legislation supports
2 3% 11 18% 6 10% 18 30% 23 38%
upcycling.

In question number 8, the author wanted to discover the barriers to applying upcycling
as sustainable solid waste management tool in Bangladesh through the level of agreement or
disagreement. In this stage, the author mentioned 6 major barriers which can interrupt the
implementation and growth of upcycling. The first point is the lack of know-how in
upcycling and in respond 31 respondents agreed while 25 of them strongly agreed. In second
statement author mentioned the financial issue to start upcycling and maximum 22
respondents agreed, 20 respondents strongly agreed. Meanwhile, 18 respondents were
neutral. Next statement is bit interesting where the author wanted to realize if the respondents
are motivated enough to start such new concept like upcycling. In reply, most 18 respondents
neither agreed nor disagreed, 12 agreed, 12 strongly agreed and 15 respondents disagreed.
In the fourth statement, the author mentioned the barrier about the lack of possibilities to
start upcycling. Here possibilities represent the available manpower expert in upcycling,
enough supplies for carrying the bulk production and partners for continuing the business
further. With this statement, maximum 32 respondents agreed completely and 21
respondents agreed only. The fifth barrier is about regulations or laws which does not support
upcycling to start. Here 20 respondents agreed and 15 completely agreed when 18 were
neutral. Only 5 respondents disagreed with this statement. The final statement is regarding

55
the barrier due to customer requirements. Customer point of view towards the using of
upcycled cloth is a major barrier. With this statement, most 28 respondents strongly agreed,
25 agreed and only 5 respondents disagreed. Table 10, is showing the summary of the
agreement or disagreement level of respondents with the possible barriers to applying
upcycling.

Table 10: Respondents perception about the barriers to apply upcycling

(Source: author's compilation)

Strongly Neither agree Strongly

Statements Disagree Agree
disagree nor disagree agree

1. Lack of knowledge. 0 0% 2 3% 2 3% 31 52% 25 42%

2. Financial issue. 0 0% 0 0% 18 30% 22 37% 20 33%

3. Lack of motivation. 3 5% 15 25% 18 30% 12 20% 12 20%

4. Lack of possibilities
0 0% 1 2% 6 10% 21 35% 32 53%
(employment, suppliers, partners).
5. Regulations. 2 3% 5 8% 18 30% 20 33% 15 25%

6. Customer requirements. 0 0% 5 8% 2 3% 25 42% 28 47%

In the final and question no 9, the author wanted to discover potentiality of the best
supports that is needed by the respondents’ company to apply upcycling. In the online survey
author listed 8 important supportive points from his concept, that is necessary to apply this
new concept. Table 11, represents the respondents’ perception summary level about the
supportive points to apply upcycling.

56
Table 11: Respondents perception about the supports to apply upcycling
(Source: author's compilation)
Not important Moderately
Statements Not important Important Very important
at all important

1. Cooperation Possibilities. 1 2% 7 12% 10 17% 27 45% 15 25%

2. Positive case studies. 0 0% 9 15% 14 23% 19 32% 18 30%

3. Data and information. 0 0% 1 2% 8 13% 17 28% 34 57%

4. Consultation and training. 0 0% 1 2% 3 5% 18 30% 38 63%

5. Financial support. 1 2% 2 3% 9 15% 20 33% 28 47%

6. Infrastructure. 0 0% 5 8% 24 40% 16 27% 15 25%

7. Eco labels. 1 2% 1 2% 14 23% 24 40% 20 33%

8. Consumer awareness. 0 0% 2 3% 5 8% 21 35% 32 53%

The first supportive point is cooperation possibilities. That means arrange local and
international partnership for upcycled product development, marketing and distribution.
Maximum 27 respondents found it as important, 15 agreed as very important, 10 agreed
moderately important when 7 respondents replied as not important. The second statement is
positive case studies of upcycling from which the beginner can study. 19 respondents replied
as important, 18 considered as very important, 14 neutral and 9 respondents thought not
important it is. The third statement is about data and information. Most 34 respondents
considered as a very important point. With the fourth statement, consultation and training
are measured as the most important point under the question 9. Maximum 38 respondents
replied it as a very important supportive point. The fifth point is financial support and 28
respondents found it very important, 20 found it as an important point. The sixth supportive
statement is infrastructure which refers the technical and mechanical setup, space, factory
building, transportation facility, power supply etc. for the applying upcycling. Maximum 24
respondents agreed as moderately important with this point, 16 replied as important and 15
replied as very important point. The seventh point is eco-labels for the respondents upcycled
products and 24 respondents replied it as important, 20 replied as a very important point.
The final supportive point is consumer awareness to apply upcycling. 32 respondents found
consumer awareness is very important and 21 respondents found it as important support for
them to apply upcycling.

57
 Findings and discussion

This chapter contains results and discussion based on the survey data
analysis from demographic and perception data in the earlier chapter. The
author of this paper will discuss the analysis together with the
recommendations of this research area to draw own conclusions with the
aim of accomplishing a result to this thesis.

6.1 Findings and discussion

After conducting the online survey through questionnaire, it indicates the lack of
garment solid waste management system in Bangladesh. Most of the garment factories are
export-oriented and they have corporate customers. Very few of these factories have any
sustainable solid waste management system. It appears the number of knit garments factory
is higher and solid waste quantity from knit garments factory is relatively higher. Study
information shows that valuable leftover from production, extra accessories and other waste
from cutting and sewing are selling to the local waste traders or other informal waste trading
industries. Hence, they lose the genuine price for these waste materials by selling to the local
waste dealers. Despite regulations sending away the garments solid waste for landfilling is
still unsatisfactory. Landfilling these wastes can be toxic for the environment due to the
mixture of various physiochemical pollutants from dyed fabrics and other synthetic
materials. Only few factories are practicing in-house recycling or downcycling, but they are
not able to meet the sustainability principles in all aspects. Because recycling or downcycling
still use water, energy and lower the value. Survey results indicate that respondents’ current
solid waste management system consume more time and save less money (Table 7) during
the whole waste management process. Factories need to send away their leftover or waste to
other places for trade and landfill. That requires transport cost and time instead of getting the
financial benefit of those waste.

It is very important that the purposes of sustainability must be explained and simplified
for all Bangladeshi garment manufacturers. Pollution and other environmental issues are
arising, so it is essential that manufacturers are more aware of sustainable waste management
system with the view to change, re- evaluate and develop in a sustainable way. Vendors need

58
to involve raising awareness about the ethical and environmental difficulties of the solid
waste from their garments manufacturing and foster a willingness to occupy in fully
sustainable sourcing.

Regarding the perspective of upcycling in Bangladesh, survey results indicate a

positive attitude of respondents towards upcycling garment industry solid waste. This is
indeed a great sign for future. 50% of the respondents agreed that it is possible to save the
water and energy through upcycling, as it will reduce the consumption of new raw materials.
Following majority respondents found the upcycling for time and money saving tool, as
upcycling is possible to do within their factory premises and with the same setup. With a
percentage of 47%, it was noted that upcycling would be helpful for the lowering of
environmental impacts while reducing the air and water pollution. Automatically in
consequence, the workers and the local public health quality will improve. Respondents
agreed that upcycled product could add higher value from waste and a new possibility to
start a new business line globally. Already upcycled product is getting popular among the
consumers who consider the environment. Attracting a good number of investors in this new
project is also only a matter of time as per respondents perception. It is clear that there must
be an absolute future of upcycling in Bangladesh. Upcycling can be a sustainable option for
the garments solid waste management system. In an outcome, Bangladesh will be the
recipient by the maximum usage of waste materials with least environmental effects while
getting the most monetary benefit.

On analyzing, data gathered from the online survey about the supportive conditions
for upcycling in Bangladesh, 55% respondents think that the interest of manufacturers is
playing a vital role for starting upcycling. This reply appears logical. Usually owner or
managing committee are allowed to make a decision and can take the initiative to merge any
new concept in their factory. Then respondents agreed to the role of clients interest. Vendors
need to steps forward with the upcycled product trade. Vendors can maintain a reasonable
price for their upcycled product as they are getting it from their leftovers. Another supportive
condition is the fairness of the price where the customer is willing to pay for waste.
Consumers attitude towards upcycled products is dependents on price. Upcycled products
are facing a future with great potential where the market condition is favorable and still less
competitive to get the vendors and consumers who are looking for a sustainable solution.

59
 From the survey, the author also noted that a lot of respondents found the lack of
possibilities, such as finding proper skillful employment, potential suppliers and valuable
partners.These could be the primary barrier to applying upcycling. Customer requirements
are found as next main barrier where manufacturers need to full fill their needs.
Workmanship, in time delivery and maintaining quality are the main requirements for
vendors. In this regard vendors duty is to put more information about the source,
environmental impacts and material composition to reach consumer requirements. Since the
surveyed factories had no experience with upcycling, they found the lack of knowledge is
another main barrier for applying upcycling. Financial issue is also a listed major barrier
from survey reply. Maximum garments factory owner from Bangladesh is running their
business from bank loan. To launch an unusual project which is entirely new to them requires
time and money for the necessary infrastructure, employment, findings vendor and partners
for business. The government of Bangladesh should implement policies that support the
upcycling and offering incentives those who are willing to start upcycling for their solid
waste management system. Existing vendors need to come out with the new program for the
development of upcycling in their sourcing factory and willing to buy the upcycled
assortment products from the scraps.

Moreover, factories from Bangladesh need attention in some point as per survey data.
Consultation and training they considered as most significant support for them to start
upcycling. Since upcycling is still something new, the component of starting lies within the
proper training and consultation for the beginner. The less data and information it gets the
more difficult it will be to start. The findings also indicate the necessities of consumer
awareness. Despite the fact that most sustainable conscious consumers when it comes to
fashion, they still have not found their way to upcycled products. Eco-label for the
manufacturer is necessarily important as there is an increase in interest for eco-friendly
products. Nowadays customers are well informed, and they want to know from where their
product is coming. So eco-label helps to change the client's attitude towards the re-use of
waste. Customer finding their way to manufacturer offering upcycled products will expect
the whole variety of environmental friendly nature.

60
 Conclusion

This chapter will present the conclusion drawn from this research. The
research question stated in the introductory chapter will here be answered
based on the results from online survey supported by earlier discussions
from textile waste and garment industry in Bangladesh section.

In the final stage of the thesis, to get an answer to the main question founding this
study for this particular topic, the author will discuss the results based on the experience that
has been gain by this research. However, among 2 research question the first question is:

Research question no 1: Is upcycling the garment industries solid waste

environmentally sustainable? In which extent upcycling concept and practice in apparel
industry has an environmental improvement potential?

The study clearly shows that fast fashion has a direct impact on the environment. Fast
fashion brands keep producing a lot cheaper clothes and letting the pile of manufacturing
waste from where they are producing. This has taken a significant impact on the environment
to developing countries. Only very few fashion brands are considering sustainability and
sustainable sourcing. Most of the retailers always hungry uses up much more resources and
produce waste. Meanwhile, valuable inputs become waste output.

So, the online survey conducted to see the perspective of upcycling as sustainable
alternative waste management system in Bangladesh. With most of the listed sustainability
statements in the survey, respondents found upcycling more sustainable than their current
waste management system. This can not be the definitive decision but may have a snapshot
of what is relatively expectable. With some environmental aspects respondents agreed
strongly such as production leftover or waste can be valuable input material, possible to save
water and energy, will reduce air and water pollution. Regarding the situation of Bangladesh,
these three aspects can label upcycling environmentally sustainable. Instead of sending away
or just landfilled, upcycling brings back waste material into the product life cycle in a
creative way. It saves an enormous amount of water and energy which uses for fresh raw
material sourcing. Therefore, there will be less air and water pollution and less environmental

61
impacts. Considering this extent, upcycling concept and practice in apparel industry have an
environmental improvement potential.

Research question no 2: How do manufacturer and customer attitude towards

upcycling affect the waste management culture and economy in Bangladesh?

Due to the increase the in environmental awareness and knowledge among consumers
today, there is a high chance for the business of upcycled products while developing the
sustainable waste management system. The survey results specify that maximum
respondents disagreed with the environmental act and economic aspects of their current
waste management system and demonstrated a positive attitude towards the upcycling
concept. So, the manufacturers together with the customers can create a sustainable waste
management culture while both of them are economically beneficiary. The more companies
that choose to work with upcycle waste management concept the more aware the customers
get to agree buying upcycled product. However, their attitude depends on the environmental
consciousness and economic feasibility. From the survey, it also found that respondents
agreed in some economical aspect of upcycling, such as possibility to gain in the value chain
of the product from waste, a new possibility to do business and will attract a good number
of investors. Consumer positive attitude towards upcycled products can change the whole
view of waste materials. The capability of exclusively offering upcycled material items lies
in the psyche of the consumers and the commitment of the manufacturers. Upcycled products
can provide lucrative price as upcycled products are innovative, unique and the story behind
the product is ethical. When the manufacturers choose to upcycle garments waste, it will not
only bring the effectiveness on reducing waste but also new job opportunities, additional
business, marketing benefits, getting green certificate and attracting more investors. This
uniqueness also brings an opportunity to increase own brand value.

The garment sector has a great contribution to the Bangladesh economy and solid
waste from this industry also have adequate potentiality. It is the perfect time to adopt the
upcycling as sustainable waste management system for making Bangladesh the leader of
garment business in the world. Consequently, we can expect a long run profitable business
without wasting our valuable resources and polluting the environment.

62
 References

[1] World o meter, "Population," 13 October 2016. [Online]. Available:

http://www.worldometers.info/. [Accessed March 2016].

[2] J. M. Allwood, S. E. Laursen, C. M. d. Rodríguez and N. M. P. Bocken, "Well dressed?

The present and future sustainability of clothing and textiles in the United Kingdom,"
University of Cambridge Institute for Manufacturing., Cambridge, 2006.

[3] F. Gracey and D. Moon, "Valuing Our Clothes: the evidence base.," Waste and
Resources Action Programme, Banbury, 2012.

[4] J. H. Connie Ulasewicz, SustSustainable Fashion: Why Now?: A conversation

exploring issues, practices, and possibilities, New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2008.

[5] A. S. McGrath, "Fashioning Sustainability: How the Clothes we wear can support
Environmental and Human Well-being," UC Berkeley, Berkeley, 2012.

[6] H. Clark, "Slow Fashion: an oxymoron or a promise for the future?," Fashion Theory:
The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture, vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 427-446, 2008.

[7] V. Bhardwaj and A. Fairhurst, "Fast fashion: response to changes in the fashion
industry," The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer, vol. 20, no.
1, pp. 165-173, 2010.

[8] D. Tyler, J. Heeley and T. Bhamra, "Supply chain influences on new product
development in fashion clothing," Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An
International Journal, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 316-328, 2006.

[9] K. Niinimäki, "From disposable to sustainable," Unigrafia, Helsinki, 2011.

63
[10] The sustainable business group, "State of the apparel sector Report : 2015 special
report Water," The sustainable business group, Denver, 2015.

[11] F. Bennie, I. Gazibara and V. Murray, "Fashion Futures," Forum for the Future,
London, 2010.

[12] M. S. J. Marianne Forman, "Organising environmental supply chain management.

Experience from a sector with frequent product shifts and complex product chains: The
case of the Danish textile sector," Greener Management International, no. 45, pp. 42-
62, 2004.

[13] R. Aus, "Trash to trend- using upcycling in fashion design.," Estonian Academy of
Arts, Tallinn, 2011.

[14] A. P. Shangnan Shui, "World Apparel Fibre Consumption Survey," International

Cotton Advisory Committee, Washington, DC, 2013.

[15] Á. Tóta, "Sustainable clothing consumption- case study about second hand clothes.,"
Universidade do Porto, Porto, 2015.

[16] R. U. Ayres, "Sustainability economics: Where do we stand?," Ecological Economics

67, pp. 281-310, 2008.

[17] N. Jungmichel, "The Carbon Footprint of Textiles," Systain Consulting GmbH,

Hamburg, 2010.

[18] IPE, "Cleaning up the Fashion Industry," Institue of Public and Environmental Affairs,
Beijing, 2012.

[19] IEA, "World Energy Outlook," International Energy Agency (IEA), Paris, 2009.

64
[20] N. Cherrett, J. Barrett, A. Clemett, M. Chadwick and M. Chadwick, "Ecological
Footprint and Water Analysis of Cotton, Hemp and Polyester," Stockholm
Environment Institute, Stockholm, 2005.

[21] S. E. Laursen and J. Hansen, "Environmental Assessment of Textiles: Life cycle

screening of textiles containing cotton, wool, viscose, polyester or acrylic fibres,"
Danish Environment Protection Agency, Denmark, Copenhagen, 1997.

[22] Redress, "Fashion and the environment," Ecochic design award, Hong Kong, 2014.

[23] D. M. M. H. Mohammad Ali, "Supply chain management of textile industry: A case

study on Bangladesh," International Journal of Supply Chain Management, pp. 35-40,
2012.

[24] ITC, "Cotton and Climate Change: Impacts and Options to Mitigate and Adapt.,"
International Trade Centre, Geneva, 2011.

[25] L. Claudio, "Waste couture: Environmental impact of the clothing Industry,"

Environmental Health Perspectives, vol. 115, pp. A450-A453, 2007.

[26] Defra, "Sustainable clothing roadmap," Department for Environment, Food and Rural
Affairs, London, 2011.

[27] OECD, "OECD Environmental Data Compendium 2006-2008," Environmental

Performance and Information Division OECD Environmental Directorate, Working
Group on Environmental Information and Outlooks, 2009.

[28] R. Kirchain, E. Olivetti, T. R. Miller and S. Greene, "Sustainable Apparel Materials,"

Materials Systems Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge,
2015.

65
[29] World bank, "Vertical and regional integration to promote african textiles and clothing
exports a close knit family?," Poverty Reduction and Economic Management 1,
Southern Africa, 2007.

[30] A. Kakuli and V. Risberg, "A lost Revolution? Enpowered but trapped in poverty.
Women in the garment industry in Bangladesh want more.," Swedwatch, Stockholm,
2012.

[31] S. I. Tanvir and E. M. T. Mahmood , "Solid waste for knit fabric: Quantification and
ratio analysis," Journal of Environment and Earth Science, vol. 4, 2014.

[32] K. Caulfield, "Sources of textile waste in Australia," Apical International Pty Ltd,
Victoria, 2009.

[33] S. Kavitha and G. Manimekalai, "A study on waste disposal management in garment
industry," International Journal of Textile and Fashion Technology, vol. 4, no. 5, pp.
37-42, 2014.

[34] B. Zamani, "Towards understanding sustainable textile waste management:

Environmental impacts and social indicators," Chalmers Reportservice, Gothenburg,
2014.

[35] European Comission, "Directive 2008/98/EC of the European parliament and of the
council," 19 November 2008. [Online]. Available: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32008L0098&from=EN. [Accessed March
2016].

[36] K. Fletcher, Sustainable fashion and textiles: Design journeys, London: Earthscan,
2008.

[37] D. Palm, "Improved waste management of textiles," IVL Swedish Environmental

Research Institute Ltd., Göteborg, 2011.

66
[38] P. M. Katkar and S. M. Bairgadar, "Textile waste recycling," Textile Review, 2010.

[39] D. Palm, M. Elander, D. Watson and N. Kiørboe, "Towards a Nordic textile strategy:
Collection, sorting, reuse and recycling of textiles," Nordic Council of Ministers,
Copenhagen, 2014.

[40] M. Gharfalkar, R. Court, C. Campbell, Z. Ali and G. Hillier, "Analysis of waste

hierarchy in the European waste directive 2008/98/EC," Waste Management, pp. 305-
313, 2015.

[41] K. Fraser, "ReDress- ReFashion as a solution for clothing (un) sustainability," School
of Art & Design, AUT University, Auckland, 2009.

[42] S. Vats, "Upcycling of hospital textiles into fashionable garments," Department of

material science, Tampere University of Technology, Tampere, 2015.

[43] Y. Shenxun, "Prevention of waste from textile in Sweden," Royal Institute of

Technology, Stockholm, 2012.

[44] W. McDonough and M. Braungart, Cradle to cradle: Remaking the way we making
things, New York: North Point Press, 2002.

[45] R. Thorstensson, "A new player in the accelerating textile industry- upcycled textile
products," The Swedish School Of Textiles, Borås, 2011.

[46] Defra, "Maximising reuse and recycling of UK clothing and textiles," Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), London, 2009.

[47] UPMADE, "UPMADE," 29 November 2016. [Online]. Available:

http://www.upmade.org/case-studies.

67
[48] M. Yunus and T. Yamagata, "The garment industry in Bangladesh," in Dynamic of the
Garments Industry in Low Income Conuntries: experiences of Asia and Africa, IDE-
JETRO, 2012, pp. 77-104.

[49] BKMEA, "Apprel export statistics of Bangladesh, Fiscal year 2013-2014," Bangladesh
knitwear manufacturers and exporters association(BKMEA), Narayanganj, 2014.

[50] N. Kameda, "A research paradigm for international business communication,"

Corporate Communications: An International Journal, pp. 168-182, 2005.

[51] I. H. Ovi, "Rags to riches: The prospects of recycled RMG by-products.," 22 November
2014. [Online]. Available:
http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2014/nov/22/rags-riches-prospects-
recycled-rmg-products. [Accessed March 2016].

[52] A. Bowling, Research methods in health: Investigating health and heath service, 4th
ed., Buckingham: Open University Press, 1997.

[53] Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, "Department of Inspection for

Factories and Establishments," 29 November 2016. [Online]. Available:
http://database.dife.gov.bd/reports/number-of-rmg-factories-by-district.

[54] A. Bryman, Social reaserch method, 3rd ed., New York: Oxford University press Inc.,
2008, pp. 6-23.

[55] S. Mahmud-ul-Islam, "Approaching sustainability in textile and garment industries,

Bangladesh," Department of Industrial Ecology, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH),
Stockholm, 2013.

[56] M. M. Alom, "Effects on environment and health by garments factory waste in

Narayanganj city, Dhaka.," American Journal of Civil Engineering, pp. 80-83, 2016.

68
[57] WTO, "International trade statistics 2006," World Trade Organization, Geneva, 2006.

[58] Google, "Administrative map of Bangladesh.," [Online]. Available: http://www.maps-

of-the-world.net/maps-of-asia/maps-of-bangladesh/. [Accessed 4 December 2016].

[59] M.-L. Djelic and A. Ainamo, "The coevolution of new organizational forms in the
fashion industry: A historical and comparative study of France, Italy, and the United
States," Organizational Science10, vol. 5, pp. 622-37, 1999.

69
 Appendix
Online survey questionnaire link: https://goo.gl/forms/GrdOH5zJq3v44irJ3

70
71
72
73
74
75