Bangladesh jute gets boost from plastic bag backlash
Western consumers who shun
environmentally unfriendly plastic bags are helping to revive the
traditional jute industry in Bangladesh
Jute, a vegetable fibre that is spun into coarse threads, was once
known as the ‘golden fibre’ of the British Empire when the Indian
sub-continent was ruled from London.
The material’s long decline was hastened in the 1980s with the advent
of synthetic fabrics, but the trend is being reversed due to growing
opposition to the litter and pollution caused by plastic bags.
Jute exports from Bangladesh have surged - up 70 percent year-on-year
in 2010 - with the fibre now the country’s second largest export after
garments.
“We are exporting millions of jute bags to eco-friendly foreign
buyers who want the finest products made of top quality material,” Asma
Mohabub Moni, a 29-year-old Bangladeshi entrepreneur and jute promoter,
told AFP. “I’m always busy now. I’m preparing an order for 700,000 jute
bags from a Japanese buyer, and I have regular orders from a UK-based
company which wants the best jute bags available,” she said.
Jute cloth, also called hessian in Europe or burlap in North America,
is environmentally friendly to produce, bio-degradable, versatile and
cheap, making it a popular alternative to plastic bags.
In 2002 Bangladesh became one of the first countries to ban plastic
bags, with China following in 2008, and last month California passed a
ban covering pharmacies, groceries and convenience stores.
Some cities and states in India have recently tried to follow suit -
with limited success - and many shops in Europe impose a levy on every
plastic bag used.
For Moni and the estimated four million Bangladeshi farmers who
cultivate jute, the worldwide change in attitude is good news.
She said international demand for eco-friendly jute shopping bags has
grown exponentially, with her own business, based in the northern town
of Mymensingh, expanding from 15 to 850 employees in the last six years.
And Western consumers’ preference for ‘fair trade’ products has meant
Bangladeshi jute farmers are, for the first time, getting a good price
for their crop.
“Ten years ago, I’d get 200 taka (three dollars) for a mound (40
kilograms) of jute, but last year we got 1,000 taka - it’s a good sign
for farmers,” said 40-year-old Abdul Mannan, a farmer from Jamalpur
district. “More farmers are interested in growing jute now than they
were 10 years back and I think that trend will continue if we get better
prices,” he added.
In 2002, after sustaining decades of losses, the government shut down
the country’s largest state-run jute mill which employed nearly 25,000
people. Its closure was widely seen as the final chapter in the story of
jute production in Bangladesh.
AFP |