Savar Tanneries Project: Improving environmental and social conditions in the Tannery Industrial Estate in Savar, Bangladesh

Last updated on 22 September 2025

Background Information

The tanneries sector is critical to the Bangladesh economy, with the government categorising it as a priority sector. The industry was recently relocated to the Savar Tannery Industrial Estate as a result of rising criticism over environmentally destructive practices, such as a lack of proper waste management and industrial wastewater treatment facilities, the dumping of toxic waste that pollutes nearby water sources as well as the use of harmful chemicals and technologies. This new estate is located on the banks of the Dhaleshwari River at Jhauchar Village, in Tetuljhata Union of Savar. While this newly established estate has a central wastewater treatment plant, its operating capacity cannot keep up with the sheer volume of wastewater produced by the tanneries and environmentally destructive practices continue. As of 2018, the tanneries were discharging approximately 20,000 cubic meters of untreated effluents per day into the Dhaleshwari River.

These environmentally destructive practices result in a major influx of pollution into the Dhaleshwari River, a critical water source for downstream agriculture (for irrigation) and ecosystems, such as wetlands. Aside from the agricultural and environmental impacts, the pollution is also causing health problems for nearby communities. Many workers also lack personal protective equipment (PPE), and operate tools and machinery without adequate safety precautions. Workers and supervisors often suffer from skin and lung diseases, headaches, diarrhoea and fatigue.

Through this SMEP-funded project, the Ethical Trading Initiative, along with their sister company in Bangladesh and other consortium partners, aim to address this challenge. The project will focus on addressing key issues pertinent to the tanneries within the Tannery Industrial Estate in Savar and more broadly in Bangladesh, including:

the absence of incentives for tannery owners and other stakeholders to invest in minimising harm,
the lack of understanding, capacity, and control mechanisms to reduce harmful and polluting practices, and
the issue of poor coordination and awareness among local and international stakeholder groups in addressing environmental and social risks.

In doing so, the consortium aims to enhance the capabilities of 40 tanneries located in this estate, as well as those of the value chain partners, to mitigate the environmental and social impacts of leather manufacturing. The project aims to enable business growth for the individual tanneries through aligning control mechanisms with international standards, facilitating access to high-value markets and unlocking the potential to invest further in environmental and decent work.

The project aims to achieve the following objectives:

To reduce the environmental and social impacts of tanneries in the Savar Tannery Estate, the project aims to:

Develop and embed Environmental and Social Management Systems (ESMS) in 40 tanneries to improve production efficiency. ESMS will be enabled by building the capacity of workers and management to understand and mitigate the environmental and social risks associated with each tannery production process.
Incentivise tannery owners to invest in risk reduction, while strengthening the capacity of stakeholders to monitor and influence the industry’s approach to risk reduction. This will be achieved by raising awareness of high value market requirements, networking with potential business partners and aligning stakeholders with international standards through the development of Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence (HREDD) in the leather industry.
Align local and international networks in advocacy efforts to ensure forward-thinking infrastructure investments, improve the application of HREDD for sector-wide, global risk reduction, and engage potential supply chain partners in collaborative harm reduction initiatives.
Overall, by the end of the project, the project aims to reduce GHG emissions by 1,235 tCO2 annually in 40 tanneries’ main operations and to reduce their water consumption by more than 15%, energy consumption by more than 15% and use of restricted substances by more than 15%.

Updates

Although the political unrest in Bangladesh in August 2024 created early challenges, the project team responded with resilience by rebuilding trust and strengthening relationships with key stakeholders. Proactive engagement with newly appointed officials has not only secured their support but also created fresh opportunities for collaboration. These efforts have reinforced the project’s foundations and demonstrate its adaptability, keeping it firmly on track to achieve its key objectives.

Environmental capacity and improved production efficiency

This objective involves the development and integration of Environmental and Social Management Systems (ESMS) for the 40 participating tanneries, alongside strengthening the ability of workers and management to identify and address environmental and social risks in their operations. Training and capacity building is a foundational project activity under this objective, with the following progress noteworthy:

Formation of 15 Anti-Harassment committees and 23 Safety Committees across the 40 tanneries. The Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) has recognised and approved these workplace committees.
Tailored training modules have been developed and cover essential content on i) occupational health and safety (OHS) knowledge and skills, ii) chemical management and restricted substance handling, iii) water, waste Management, and housekeeping, iv) Green Social Dialogue (GSD) and v) Env and Social Management systems. These modules are delivered directly to tannery staff and through Training-of-Trainers sessions to help embed them into standard operating practices.
Training sessions and workshops has thus far reached 243 participants (241 male and 2 female). Evaluation and feedback from these training sessions suggest a significant improvement in understanding and knowledge (for example, of the participants, 30% has shown an improved knowledge in chemical storage).

Environmental assessment

As a baseline activity, the team conducted comprehensive environmental assessment of 40 factories to assess their current status in relation to Leather Working Group (LWG) certification requirements and to highlight any key gaps. While some promising practices were identified, there are also critical areas that need improvement:

Limited EMS and safety awareness among management and workers.
Weak data collection and monitoring, hindering operational improvements.
Lack of formal policies/SOPs for EMS, chemicals, waste, and effluent treatment.
Health and safety risks, including inadequate PPE and poor chemical handling.
Resource inefficiency, e.g., water and energy waste.
Waste and effluent management challenges, with inconsistent practices across tanneries.
Poor housekeeping and infrastructure, affecting safety and environmental performance.

These insights then informed the development of factory-specific Gap Analysis Reports and set the stage for future ESMS planning.

Development of an HREDD framework

One of the project’s key deliverables is the development of a Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence (HREDD) framework – a ‘best practice’ standard for the leather industry designed to help tannery stakeholders align more closely with international requirements and encourage investment in risk mitigation. The framework has been finalised following extensive stakeholder engagement and consultation with business and labour associations, government bodies, tannery owners and staff, financial institutions, as well as brands and buyers. It is scheduled to be launched at the Lineapelle International Leather Fair in September 2025.

Strategic stakeholder engagement

ETI Bangladesh and the Bangladesh Labour Foundation (BLF) have been actively engaged in the national Leather Development Forum (LDF), participating in regular meetings and maintaining ongoing collaboration with other stakeholders. Building on this engagement, HREDD activities have been formally integrated into the LDF’s annual action plan, reinforcing a shared commitment to mainstream responsible practices across the leather sector. LDF is strongly aligned to the newly established Labour Reform Commission (LRC) – mandated to review, update and reform labour laws and regulations in Bangladesh.

The project team has been collaborating closely with government partners, including, DIFE, and the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) and jointly planning an upcoming multi-stakeholder tannery roundtable with UNDP Bangladesh.