According to Euromonitor’s research done in 2021, the denim market is a US $ 91 billion market, and is projected to increase to US $ 121 billion by 2026. Bangladesh is the top shipper of denim apparels both in the USA and the EU. With Bangladesh emerging as the preferred sourcing destination of denim goods – products that require significant efforts of sustainability initiatives – the country has improved the production processes and has made significant investments in sustainable business practices. There are 161 LEED certified factories and around 500 factories in pipeline in Bangladesh, highest among all garment manufacturing countries. The recent webinar on Dynamics of the Denim industry and trends by Coats sheds light on the rapidly changing and evolving denim industry across the globe and Bangladesh’s contribution in denim manufacturing.
In the webinar, Zahir Ahsan, Commercial Director, Coats Bangladesh talked about the growing awareness amongst the consumers about sustainability, and their expectation that the textile/ garment industry should be mindful of its impact on the environment. “The major drivers are circularity, climate change, digitisation and emphasis should be laid on transparency and responsible behaviour from all the stakeholders, ensuring a safe working environment, rights for workers and investing in upskilling people. Another major driver is digitisation which has been instrumental in lean and accurate supply chains. The industry is undergoing a major shift towards circularity which is – reduce waste, recycle materials and regenerate/restore the natural systems,” commented Zahir.
The webinar also stressed on the evolving inclination of brands for moving towards natural fibres, especially hemp, which requires less water as compared to cotton. While one T-shirt requires 2,700 litres of water, a pair of jeans requires 7,600 litres of water to make it through the production line. Brands are also launching washless denims- where consumers will not need to wash denims at home. It is a combination of two technologies- BIONIC-FINISH® ECO and silver-based antimicrobial clear coating. It restricts liquid droplets penetrating the fabric and controls odour-posing bacteria.
In line with its sustainability agenda and its commitment towards an eco-friendly innovative industry, Coats has established a technologically advanced modern Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) in its Gazipur factory. With the help of this reverse osmosis plant, the new ETP will be able to reduce 80 per cent of water consumption in its recycling facility and thus reduce groundwater extraction by 214 million litres per annum.
Besides innovation in processes, the webinar brought forward Coats line of sustainable thread, a significant progress in terms of sustainable product innovation. This includes their 100 per cent recycled polyester thread made from PET bottles called EcoVerdewith Bangladesh producing 820 tonnes of EcoVerde last year. Another product EcoRegen is a 100 per cent lyocell product made from sustainably managed wood pulp. Next to be launched are Eco-B and Eco Cycle. Eco-B is a 100 per cent recycled thread with CiCLO additive that helps reduce micro-fibre pollution and accelerate biodegradation. Eco Cycle helps the garments get disassembled at the end of the product life cycle. All these sustainable and circular threads offer superior sewing performance and excellent quality.
A question might arise – Will these sewing threads contribute to productivity improvement? Adnan Mahmud, Technical Service Manager, Coats Bangladesh explained, “While it may seem that sewing thread contributes to only 1-2 per cent from a garment’s point of view, it’s the only trim item that holds the garment together and determines how the garment will look and how the garment will perform at consumer level.” It directly contributes to the number of garments returned to the store due to the quality issues faced by the consumers. By investing in superior quality sewing thread, one saves the cost of rejected garments, cost of downtime on production due to thread breakage, skip stitch and cost of wasted thread.
To know more about how Coats is transforming Bangladesh’s denim industry through its sustainable and innovative solutions, please connect with us –
Email: customer.service.bangladesh@coats.com
Phone: +88 09606000035
