In a world where people are struggling every moment to sustain in the current status they are living besides they have further desire to improve; it is quite natural that the textile factories being one of the bases of civilization building will feel a perplexing pattern of sustainability requirements. Stakeholders like the governments, buyers, consumer right protectors, labour right protectors, community right protectors, trade association, financial institutions and the factories have their own perspective of sustainability. As factories are the core place, every such perspective requires the factories to do something to cater. Living in a tight and uncertain world it is tremendously difficult for them to make all stakeholders happy. Knowledge Based Textile Community (KBTC) is studying the situation and asks feedback, suggestions and ideas from all- how textile factories can manage such perplexing sustainability requirements. 

On 28th April 2016, Environment Minister Anwar Hossain told that Bangladesh government has a plan to make all industries zero discharge by the year 2030. As textile is the largest manufacturing sector of the country and one of the biggest liable for environment pollution it is the main field to work for achieving the target mentioned by the minister. Meanwhile the Department of Environment (DoE) of Government of Bangladesh recently has asked plans from existing wet processing factories of 'being zero discharge'. The DoE have not yet put 'being zero discharge' as a regulation but it is being envisioned by them as one of the future considerations in regulations. Some of the leading buyers like H& M are also asking 'Road to zero discharge' plan from some of their client factories.

Apart from the 'plan for zero discharge' factories are under continuous monitoring of DoE and other government agencies on the existing legal requirements. Many factories have been fined by those agencies frequently. Environment minister also informed that between 2010 and March this year, 2,191 industrial units were fined Tk. 213.09 crore for polluting the environment. It have been found that there were reputed renowned factories among them. It is generally can be told that those factories has all their positive intention to comply with the government requirements and sometimes they want to improve further to comply other stricter regulations put forward mainly by the buyers. Studies have shown that many of those factories are spending considerable amount of money for the purpose regularly. But still the government agencies are getting nonconformity in those factories. So, the factories require a clear and easy way out to avoid such humiliating fines and other related challenges.

Resource efficiency is the most discussed topic in the community currently particularly when the industry is growing to meet $50 billion export by 2021. Many have suggested that the approach has to be like 'increasing production but reducing resource usage'. Keeping this in mind key stakeholders of the sector have taken number of initiatives like Partnership for Cleaner Textile (PaCT) of IFC, Towards Resource Efficient and Environmental Sustainability (TREES) of BGMEA, Sweden Textile Water Initiative (STWI) of SIWI, Zero Discharge to Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) of leading brands, Promotion of Social and Environmental Standards (PSES) of GIZ, Industrial Energy Efficiency Finance Program (IEEFP) of ADB, SAVE of H& M PUMA etc. Besides the factories requires working for Oeko-tex certification, ISO certification, Accord, Alliance, Organic Cotton, BCI, BSCI and many more requirements. Social compliance related issues also are not out of sustainability premise, i.e. Occupational Health and Safety, SRHR, CSR activities etc.

Textile factories requires to working with one or many of such programs. These programs have ingredients that can help the factories to improve their existing resource and environment related condition. Many of the times benefits achieved under these programs don't sustain long in the factories. Most of such interventions are practice related. The improvements may prevail during the time when factories report them but many of those improvements disappear over the time. Factories are looking for answers to better use of these initiatives and requirements. How changes made under the programs could be sustained longer? - is a question they have.

Companies have their own management structure and has got some ideas and activities related to Energy Management, Water Management, Chemical Management, Environment Management and Quality Management. Now is a complex supply chain where sustainability issues are popping up in wide and versatile spectrum; it is perplexing for the factories which way of management approach could be appropriate for them. How they can manage the growing needs and requirements and still remain competitive.