Weak enforcement of groundwater licencing and effluent treatment standards has led to high rates of water use in the textile mills and discharge of toxic effluents into the surface water bodies.

The Water PaCT Bangladesh is a partnership founded to drive the wet processing textile sector in the country towards a more sustainable performance and better water and resource efficiency. The partnership is sponsored by the Kingdom of the Netherlands and numerous international apparel buyers and implemented by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Solidaridad and the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA). PaCT helps individual factories identify and implement Cleaner Production (CP) measures in water, energy and chemical use in the dye house, within the factories’ utilities and effluent treatment plants (ETPs), and through housekeeping. These measures are typically low-cost and easy to implement bringing quick investment return to the factories.