DESPITE its long-standing potential, Bangladesh’s leather industry remains chronically underdeveloped. This stagnation continues even as the country produces over 350 million square feet of rawhide annually — an abundant resource that should position Bangladesh as a global leather hub. Yet unlike the ready-made garments sector, which thrived through sustained policy support and compliance-driven transformation, the tannery industry has failed to scale or modernise.
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Core crisis: environmental non-compliance
At the heart of this failure lies environmental non-compliance.
In 2017, the government relocated tanneries from Hazaribagh to Savar with the hope of mitigating pollution. But despite the move, the environmental damage has merely shifted location. The Central Effluent Treatment Plant, a critical component of this transition, remains dysfunctional. It can treat only 25,000 cubic metres of effluent per day, well below the 42,000–45,000 cubic metres needed during peak production seasons. Even worse, the CETP lacks adequate units to treat hazardous elements like chromium and salt. As a result, untreated, chromium-laced wastewater continues to flow into the Dhaleshwari River.
Solid waste management is in even worse shape. Chrome shaving dust and other scraps are openly dumped, polluting soil and groundwater and ultimately entering the food chain. Despite existing regulations, these toxic wastes still find their way into fish and poultry feed — an alarming practice that has persisted unchecked for years.
This non-compliance has direct economic consequences. Most Bangladeshi tanneries are unable to secure certification from the Leather Working Group, an international body that evaluates environmental and social standards in leather production. Out of the 1,710 points in the LWG audit, 150 are dedicated to solid waste management — an area where Bangladeshi tanneries consistently fall short.
A recent study by the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation outlines four major bottlenecks that continue to paralyse the sector: 1) Incomplete CETP infrastructure; 2) Lack of commitment to environmental compliance among tannery owners; 3) Poor solid waste management practices; and 4) Unsafe and unhealthy working conditions.
More than 70 per cent of tannery workers reportedly suffer from health problems. Many work without formal contracts or protective equipment and receive wages that barely sustain livelihoods. Unless the industry addresses these structural issues, it will remain caught in a cycle of pollution, reputational damage, and missed economic opportunity.
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Chinese investment in leather waste recycling
In this bleak scenario, a Chinese-backed recycling initiative has emerged as a potential game-changer.
Bangladesh ZW Animal Protein Co. Ltd. — a joint venture between China’s Wenzhou Yuanfei and Pyongyang-based investors — has begun producing gelatin and industrial protein powder from the solid waste generated by Savar’s tanneries. The company has already established a factory on nine acres of land in Nayarhat, complete with its own effluent treatment plant. It has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Dhaka Tannery Industrial Estate Waste Treatment Plant Company Ltd to collect chrome shaving dust for processing.
According to company official Parvez Khan, the venture aims to export around 5,000 tonnes of gelatine and protein powder annually to markets in China and Russia. Gelatin, extracted from wet blue leather scraps, is widely used in pharmaceuticals, especially in the manufacture of capsule shells. The industrial protein powder, derived from chrome-contaminated waste, is repurposed to soften leather, offering a much safer and more sustainable alternative to conventional practices.
What makes this initiative especially promising is its potential to dismantle the harmful informal recycling ecosystem that has thrived for decades. For years, chrome-laced tannery waste has been converted into animal feed, contaminating food and water sources. This new model not only halts that practice but also creates value-added export products, transforming what was once toxic waste into economic assets.
Golam Shahnewaz, the managing director of the waste treatment company, sees this as a landmark shift. ‘They’re taking what was once hazardous waste and turning it into export-quality products,’ he said. ‘This could finally address one of the sector’s biggest obstacles to LWG certification.’
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Govt’s safe landfill project
ALONGSIDE private sector innovation, a long-delayed state intervention is finally in motion. In October 2024, following the fall of the Awami League government, the Climate Change Trust Fund approved a Tk 100 million project to construct a secure landfill for tannery solid waste.
To be implemented by BSCIC by the end of 2025, this landfill will feature a multi-layered containment system designed to prevent chromium-laced leachate from seeping into groundwater. Instead, all leachate will be directed to the CETP for treatment before being discharged into the river.
‘This landfill is critical,’ said Dr Md Farhad Ahmed, General Manager of BSCIC’s Planning and Research Division. ‘It’ll not only reduce river pollution but also help tanneries earn those crucial 150 points in the LWG audit related to solid waste management.’
By replacing dangerous open-dumping practices, this initiative could prevent further contamination of agricultural lands and groundwater. BSCIC officials believe that if properly maintained, the landfill could become a cornerstone of sustainable leather production in Bangladesh.
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Pollution beyond Savar
HOWEVER, the problem extends far beyond Savar. Tannery and industrial waste continue to ravage at least 14 major rivers across Bangladesh, including the Buriganga, Turag, Balu, and Dhaleshwari in the capital region, as well as the Bhairab, Rupsha, and Karnafuli elsewhere.
The Buriganga remains a symbol of environmental devastation. Though most tanneries left Hazaribagh, leather depots and illegal processing in Tongi and Gazipur still funnel untreated waste into its waters. The impact has been catastrophic: fish populations are declining, water is undrinkable, and ecosystems are in decay.
Abdus Sobhan, the general secretary of the Save the Environment Movement, estimates that tannery waste has caused over Tk 4 billion in damages to rivers around Dhaka over the past three decades. ‘And that’s just the water,’ he warns. ‘We haven’t even begun to quantify the damage to human health.’
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Eid-ul-Adha and the annual spike in pollution
EACH YEAR, as Eid-ul-Adha (Qurbani Eid) approaches, attention turns to the tannery industry. But even after more than a decade, the sector remains stuck in crisis. During this period, due to the non-operational state of the CETP, many factories in Savar struggle to function. Leather waste is processed and then dumped along roadsides at the outskirts of the tannery estate, eventually finding its way into canals, drains, and ultimately the Dhaleshwari River.
Official estimates reveal that the Hemayetpur tannery zone generates around 20,000 cubic metres of liquid waste and 120 tonnes of solid waste daily, most of which is discharged untreated. During Qurbani Eid, the solid waste load spikes to over 250 tonnes. Despite repeated initiatives to relocate or upgrade the industry, progress remains stalled, often due to unspoken interests and invisible roadblocks.
Recently, new decisions have been floated to manage solid waste through the Environment Fund. If implemented effectively, this could finally introduce long-awaited change. As foreign buyers increasingly prioritise traceability, eco-friendliness, and non-hazardous production standards, the industry’s survival will depend on meeting these expectations. Otherwise, leather orders will continue to shift to India, Indonesia, and Vietnam, where environmental compliance is taken more seriously.
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Can Bangladesh learn from its neighbours?
THE future of Bangladesh’s leather industry hangs in the balance. Years of mismanagement, weak regulation, and chronic non-compliance have not only degraded the environment but also eroded the industry’s credibility in the global marketplace. And yet, initiatives like the ZW Animal Protein recycling project and the government’s long-delayed safe landfill project offer a rare window of opportunity to reverse course.
But isolated efforts, however well-intentioned, will not be enough.
True transformation demands: 1) full operational capacity and upgrading of the CETP, with the ability to treat chromium, salts, and other hazardous elements. 2) Strict, uniform enforcement of environmental and labour regulations across all tanneries, not just during peak production seasons. 3) Independent, transparent monitoring mechanisms to prevent regulatory capture and ensure accountability. 4) Substantive improvements in working conditions, including fair wages, protective equipment, and healthcare access for tannery workers.
If pursued in earnest, these reforms could help Bangladesh’s leather sector fulfil its long-stated potential, creating sustainable jobs, attracting ethical buyers, and positioning the country within a competitive, eco-conscious global leather value chain. If not, even the most promising initiatives will remain footnotes in a story of systemic failure.
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Regional models of reform
INDIA and Indonesia are both major players in the global leather market and have made notable strides in tackling the same issues that Bangladesh now faces. Their experiences offer critical lessons.
Indian tanneries employ reverse osmosis technologies to treat wastewater. The treated water is reused in production, and the saline reject is evaporated and processed into salt, minimising discharge and maximising reuse. India’s waste-to-resource projects transform tannery byproducts into biogas, organic fertilisers, and particle boards from leather shaving dust. In India, local entrepreneurs are supported to turn leather waste into marketable goods, showcased in trade fairs and exhibitions. India is piloting advanced oxidation processes and photocatalysis to degrade complex pollutants more efficiently.
Indonesian tanneries use coagulation and precipitation to remove heavy metals like chromium from wastewater before discharge. The tannery waste in Indonesia is converted into biochar, a carbon-rich material used for soil conditioning, a sustainable waste management solution with agricultural benefits. Techniques are being developed to extract tallow protein residues and other useful byproducts from tannery sludge in Indonesia. It is actively engaging stakeholders to reduce the toxic load from leather processing and improve sludge management practices.
Following the models of India and Indonesia, Bangladesh should consider the following steps: 1) Bangladesh must invest in scalable, adaptive treatment technologies like RO, AOPs, and biochar processing, customised to its industrial context. 2) The government and donors should support innovation hubs that help local entrepreneurs transform tannery waste into usable products, linking them to markets and reducing informal, hazardous recycling. 3) It should incentivise compliance through market access and align environmental reforms with export market incentives by making LWG certification a strategic goal, not just a bureaucratic checkbox. 4) Policies should bridge the gap between environment, industry, labour, and commerce ministries, ensuring unified implementation instead of siloed efforts.
If Bangladesh can draw from these regional examples and implement long-overdue structural reforms, its leather industry may yet become a model of green industrialisation rather than a symbol of environmental failure. Time is running out, but the window for meaningful change is still open.
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ÌýNafew Sajed Joy is a writer and researcher.
