Sustainability is well recognized as one of the top global concerns today. For people and the planet to thrive we must accelerate ambition and action towards a more sustainable future. Coats globally and locally have been at the forefront of the sustainability journey for a long time. We are delighted that Coats Bangladesh raised its ambitions in this regard even further during 2022. In 2019, Coats launched our ambitious new global strategy for sustainability called ‘Pioneering a sustainable future’. This focuses on five priority areas where we can accelerate progress through the targeted investment of capital and resources.
Among the 5 priorities, Effluent management is critical considering its impact on the environment. A key focus of Coats' strategy is to "Reduce and Clean" our effluent. Coats Bangladesh has reduced over 30% of effluent generation compared to 2020 and over 40% against the 2018 baseline. This has been achieved through different innovative initiatives under our Continuous Improvement (CI) program, and by incorporating the World’s best technological machinery across the facilities.
Coats Bangladesh can also confirm that through efforts to ensure clean effluent, 100% of effluent discharge is now compliant with the Dept of Environment (DoE) limits and Coats global standard. To accelerate our ambitions for sustainability, Coats Bangladesh has established a technologically advanced modern Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) with a beautiful design and state of the art technology.
The technology of the ETP is based on Biological membrane bio reactor & reverse osmosis with an online real-time critical parameter monitoring system. The capacity of this ETP is 2100 m3/day with 80% water recycling capacity which is upgradable to a Zero Liquid Discharge option with the incorporation of evaporators in the future. The new ETP comprises four major segments-Biological operations, MBR filtration, RO operation, and reject treatment
The whole plant can be operated from a single computer window or remotely by a "Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system" known as SCADA and all the critical parameters will be monitored by an Online web-based monitoring system. Due to its 80% recycling capacity, about 500,000 liters of groundwater extraction will be reduced daily. In addition, this new ETP will reduce 144 Ton of sludge annually.The ETP was inaugurated on 21st June’22 by Bill Watson- Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Asia Region, Coats Group Plc. in the presence of Al Kashem - Managing Director of Coats Bangladesh operation, Salman Chowdhury- Assistant Director, Dhaka Zone of Department of Environment, Khalid Gaffar-Deputy Director, Trade & Investment, British High Commission.
ZDHC is the foremost textile industry body aimed at reducing the chemical impact of the industry on the environment. Having originally been launched by six leading brands it now has 30 Signatory Brands, 50 Chemical Industry affiliates, 35 Textile & Footwear Industry affiliates (including Coats), 30 Solution Provider affiliates and 22 Associate organizations. It therefore covers the chemical inputs, the processing and the testing and treatment of effluent, all under the leadership and commitment of major brands. We signed up for the ZDHC programme in 2016 and committed to aligning our effluent standards with those of the programme in 2018. We adopted the ZDHC conventional parameters with foundational limits as our Coats internal standards in 2019. Initially, these limits were applied only to effluent discharged from the factory, but in 2019 the scope was expanded to include sludge. Coats Bangladesh has been 100% ZDHC compliant since 2018.
As part of our aim to progressively reduce the use of chemicals in processing, and to ensure that our products are safe in use, for the past 17 years Coats has been continuously developing and enhancing its Coats Restricted Substances List (CRSL). This is a very comprehensive list that meets the strictest requirements from any of our customers globally. We work with our 4500+ suppliers of raw materials, dyes, chemicals and packaging each year to ensure that our inputs comply with our CRSL to ensure that hazardous chemicals are reduced or eliminated from our supply chain. The list is widely regarded within the industry as the strictest restricted substance list, and is even referenced by many companies.
Coats Bangladesh has been ISO 14001 (International Standard for Environmental Management System) certified for more than a decade now, through which we are confirming a holistic view and a systematic approach to reduce the environmental impact of our operation. Coats is the world’s leading industrial thread company with more than 250 years of history. Headquartered in the UK and a member of the FTSE250, our products are sold in over 100 countries with digital platforms enabling us to serve customers wherever they are located. We give employment to over 18,000 people across six continents, and we operate in some 50 countries. In addition, Coats is a proud participant in the UN Global compact. We have only one Earth in this universe to live. So, it is our collective responsibility to preserve and protect the environment to ensure people and nature thrive.
