Textiles are the cornerstone of Bangladesh’s economy, but the industry places pressure on the country’s limited water resources. Over the past two years, we have led a project consortium to determine how advanced wastewater treatment and recycling technologies in the sector could help Bangladesh conserve billions of litres of groundwater a year and significantly reduce water pollution.
Supported by the UK Government as part of its Sustainable Manufacturing and Environmental Pollution programme, the project has seen us join forces with multiple stakeholders, including H&M, international non-profit organisation WaterAid and water industry specialists from around the world.
Our test case was Fakir Knitwear, a factory in Dhaka that supplies Primark and many other brands. We found that by integrating innovative technologies such as ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis, the factory could reuse 50% of its wastewater (400,000 m3 a year) and cut its use of chemical softening agents. As well as reducing freshwater extraction and pollution, this could achieve substantial GHG emission reductions.
The factory installed the recommended water treatment equipment and energy-efficient pumps in summer 2025, and we hope to report on the impact in our next report.
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development estimates that if similar systems were scaled to 25% of wastewater treated across the industry, Bangladesh could conserve over 43 million m³ of groundwater annually and cut GHG emissions by 1.5 to 2.6 million tonnes CO₂e, contributing 4–7% toward its 2030 climate targets.