Bangladesh has strengthened its position as the global leader in green apparel factories.

The country now has 180 such factories with United States Green Building Council’s LEED certification (certificate for green factories).Two more Bangladesh garment factories have achieved green building certification from the USGBC in the gold category in December. Bangladesh has achieved 27 green building certification in 2022, including 13 in platinum category which is the highest in a year, so far.

Of the total 180 green certified factories, 58 are platinum-rated, 108 gold-rated, 10 silver-rated and four are only certified.Besides, some 550 are also in the pipeline to get the USGBC’s LEED certification. USGBC honours factories based on several criteria – transformation performance, energy, water, and waste management. The best performers are rated with platinum, followed by gold and silver.

Bangladesh, the second largest readymade garment exporter in the world, has taken a leading position in sustainable green industrialization. After independence in 1971, Bangladesh was held up as an example of a failed state. People were used to thinking of the Bangladesh readymade garment industry as a place of forced labor, child labor and small factories. It’s hoped that about ten per cent of the total readymade garment sector in the next decade will use green technology.