The Bangladesh team is very clued up about the direction that the company is moving towards and all efforts are aligned to the objective . “ We have a clear roadmap of what we are aiming for and how it ’ s going to be done , structured on the foundation of global targets that the company has set . We achieve these benchmarks in Bangladesh by setting a higher target than what has been provided to us ,” says Angelo Leanage , Managing Director , A & E Bangladesh Ltd . Managing Environment , Health and Safety ( EHS ) is not only the top priority but is also considered as one of the core values for all initiatives that A & E undertakes . Environment Management … Water Resources at the Core
The A & E factory is a role model in sustainable practices with preservation and treatment of water , an important aspect of the efforts , wherein water is treated at two stages – before use , coming from fresh source ( WTP ); and when water , that has been already used , is treated for further reuse ( ETP ). Talking about the processes that are being followed , Angelo explains , “ In water treatment engineering , two things are very important : first the processed water for daily use , and second
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the pre-used water for industrial usage .” To ensure that treated water meets these goals , water treatment is of two types : Pre-module and Post-module water treatment . The pre-module water is collected from sources like river or rain and given treatment right from pH levels , hardness to sterilizing the water for dyeing purposes . “ Groundwater has a hardness that needs to be removed before dyeing as it affects the quality and consistency of dyeing ,” adds Angelo .
The ability to reuse the water optimally , post treatment is an added edge , irrespective of whether the same is discharged to the pond or reused in the plant . Based on the reusing pattern , the water has to be retreated again with the help of ETP . How effective the ETP is , depends on the processes involved -- Reverse Osmosis ( RO ), chemically treated , biotreated , to name a few . “ With RO , we can use 40 per cent of water again for dyeing ; at the moment we are discharging out or we are using it for gardening , car washing ,” shares Angelo . He adds that though the ETP they are using is not zero discharge , but whatever water is being discharged has the right pH level , colour , DO , COD , BOD , TDS and other parameters . All the parameters are being monitored in A & E lab daily and also by third party lab time to time .
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As a sustainably conscious factory , A & E has installed an ETP that is using the latest technology - membrane bioreactor process ( MBR ) which actually prepares water for the RO level and meets all global standards in clean water . |
As a sustainably conscious factory , A & E has installed an ETP that is using the latest technology – membrane bioreactor process ( MBR ), which actually prepares water for the RO level and meets all global standards in clean water . “ I have visited 50-60 factories in Bangladesh and 15-16 in other countries , but nowhere have I seen this system yet . As far as I know , we are the only MBR plant in Bangladesh , in textile . The treatment process has one of the advanced technologies which we can extend to extract even drinking water levels ,” avers Angelo .
Though investment in the MBR system was huge , A & E feels that the investment is not about how much one spends today , but also about investing in the future . “ We look at it as the future of the planet ; the cost is there but the question is really – what do we want ? I mean , probably 50 years down the line , everyone will only have a bottle of water . Therefore , we need to put the right water back into the ground again . Also , it is good for business in the long run as globally , sustainability is the priority . Further , the investment helps us to get the right quality of water , which improves the overall quality of dyeing and for whatever we discharge , we make sure that it is the right quality of water so
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