Green Initiatives

Protecting the environment from the harmful by-products of operations encouraged the sustainability team to start a number of initiatives that not only save resources for the country but also is cost effective. The main focus is to incorporate the 3 R’s – Reduce, Reuse and Recycle into all initiatives.

Some of the initiatives include:

Re-using treated water

treated waste-water from the ETP is re-used for daily toilet flushing of 9000 workers in the premises, saving almost 100 million liters of underground water per year.

Harvesting rain-water

The 250,000 sq. ft roof top rain water harvesting system is used for fabric dyeing, washing and other purposes, saving approximately 28 million liters of underground water every year.

Reusing utility water

Water used daily by the management staff in the wash basin is re-used for gardening around the main premises. This initiative saves about 500 liters of water per day.

Recovering heat

Exhaust from the 5 MW gas generator is re-used for cooling purposes, saving substantial energy and reducing carbon emissions at the same time. Similarly, exhaust from the 3.2 MW gas generator is re-used for steam generation purposes.

Recycling organic waste

30 tons of organic compost fertilizer is produced monthly. Leftovers from lunch of employees along with kitchen waste from the surrounding area, cotton dust from the spinning mill, cow dung, water hyacinth and other natural ingredients are used to make the fertilizer. Tests done by the Department of Environment (DOE) of Bangladesh have revealed that the fertilizer is very potent, but till date it has only been used at the tea estate.

Corporate Sustainability

The VIYELLATEX Corporate Sustainability is practiced around social considerations. The key areas of focus are Health and Education. With that in mind, VIYELLATEX aims to contribute towards the Millennium Development Goals..

Till date, some of the initiatives undertaken by the Sustainability team include:

  • Employing physically challenged people into the mainstream workforce. VIYELLATEX is associated with the Center for Rehabilitation of the Paralyzed (CRP) and regularly employs physically challenged individuals into the workforce. Up till now, more than 60 individuals have been employed and all of them have shown remarkable performance over time.
  • Establishing seven Pre-Primary Schools till 2011 for underprivileged children in association with Save The Children, USAID.
  • Organizing annual Blood Donation Programs.
  • Organizing annual Eye Camp for the local community. Till date, near about 5,000 patients have benefitted from this initiative.
  • Organizing quarterly 0-5 clinic for workers’ children. This program has benefitted over 350 children since it started in 2009.

Other than these continuous programs, VIYELLATEX has:

  • Donated blood centrifuge machine and dialysis machine to the local hospital
  • Donated to CRP for its pediatric unit, extending the facility to 30 beds
  • Set up a state-of-the-art IT Laboratory in Dhaka University
  • Set up a Computer and Science Laboratory for BAF Shaheen School

These are only some of the initiatives that VIYELLATEX has conducted as part of its contribution towards the people of Bangladesh. The aim remains to empower the people through initiatives that will help in the long term.

Affiliations

VIYELLATEX incorporates principles of sustainability into each of its business decisions. It has already made a commitment to the United Nations Private Sector Forum to be 25% more energy efficient by 2015 and become carbon neutral by 2016. Innovative use of technology, along with the aim to plant about 7 million trees at the Tea estate has been undertaken to fulfill these commitments.

VIYELLATEX group is always concerned about the environment as it is one of its core values. In order to be sustainable in the international market, transparency and exposure is very important. VIYELLATEX is a signatory of United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), abiding by the 10 principles and reporting annually to share the experience with other global players.

VIYELLATEX is the only Organizational Stakeholder of Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) in Bangladesh. The annual Sustainability Report is based on parameters as stated by the GRI guidelines. All reports published so far are available at the “Publications” Section.

VIYELLATEX is also a member of the CSR Forum, Bangladesh.

ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

The Management and all who work at Viyellatex Ltd. are committed to the care of the environment and the prevention of pollution.

The organization ensures that all its activities are carried out in conformance with the relevant environmental legislation and the requirements of Directorate of Environment, Ministry of Environment and Forest, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh.

The organization operates processes, which are prescribed under Red Category (serial 14), SCHEDULE–1, The Environment Conservation Rules, 1997 of Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, and observes the requirements (under act 13) (schedule 12b) laid down by the same act.

The organization commits to prevention of pollution and continual improvement. The organization seeks to minimize waste arising, promote recycling, reduce energy consumption, reduce harmful emissions and, where possible, to work with suppliers who themselves have sound environmental policies.

An essential feature of the environmental management system is a commitment to improving environmental performance. This is achieved by setting annual environmental improvement objectives and targets which are regularly monitored and reviewed. The objectives and targets are publicized throughout the organization and all staff is committed to their achievement.

In order to ensure the achievement of the above commitments, the organization has implemented an environmental management system, which satisfies the requirements of ISO 14001:2004.

This Policy and the obligations and responsibilities required by the environmental management system have been communicated to all employees. The Policy is available to the public on request

Technology

Our goal is to be the efficient manufacturer and service provider in our customer industries, collaborating with our customers to continuously improve their competitiveness. Technology is one of the key success factors in achieving this goal, as well as in improving the profitability of our own business.

VIYELLATEX uses state-of-the-art technology in its lines. The modern machinery used is aimed at effectively reducing wastage and improve our efficiency. It has also integrated Information Technology with its business process with the use of global software solutions such as “Systems, Applications and Products” (SAP) Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Fast React, General Sewing Data (GSD), Orgatex, KORMEE etc