Bangladesh is growing fast to be a hub of organic textile manufacturing amid a rise in demand from international apparel retailers, said a statement of the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), an international benchmark.
The number of globally recognized textile factories, which use organic raw materials, rose 29 percent last year in bangladesh, with the growth rate being highest globally, said Sumit Gupta, GOTS representative for India and Bangladesh, said in a recent statement.
In 2018, organic certification grew 25 percent in North America, 23 percent in Pakistan and 23 percent in South Korea, said the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS).
“Bangladesh continued its second position and registered a growth rate of 29 percent in terms of GOTS certified facilities,” said Sumit Gupta.
Globally, the number of facilities certified by the GOTS rose 14.6 percent to 5,760 in the year. GOTS certification covers the processing of certified organic fibres along the entire supply chain from field to finished product. Certified factories are located in 64 countries.
In terms of total numbers, the highest increase is reported from India, which added more than 315 factories, followed by Bangladesh at 155 and Europe 98.
Bangladesh has the second most GOTS-certified factories worldwide with 689 facilities, just after India with 1973 factories.
The other top countries in terms of total number of certified units are Turkey (519), Germany (500), Italy (340), China (301), Pakistan (238), Portugal (215), the US (127), and South Korea (85).
In the statement, GOTS Managing Director Claudia Kersten said that the increasing number of certified facilities aligns with the common desire to solve sustainability related problems.
“It confirms that GOTS is seen as part of the solution. Company leaders use GOTS as risk management tool and as market opportunity. Consumers value the verifiable certification from field to finished product.”
Bangladesh imports nearly 8 million bales of cotton every year, mainly from India, the US and from some African countries, of the imports, nearly 6 percent is organic cotton that comes from India and the US.
It includes the entire postharvest processing of apparel and home textiles made with certified organic fibre and has both environmental and social criteria.
