Energy efficiency ideas win leathergoods firms over
Leathergoods manufacturers in Bangladesh are embracing energy-saving technology, according to the World Bank.
As part of a series of studies called ‘Country Climate and Development Reports’, the World Bank has devoted a substantial amount of time in 2022 and 2023 to conducting surveys of attitudes to energy-saving among leathergoods manufacturers in Bangladesh. More than 500 companies have taken part in the surveys.
This work is not yet complete, but results so far already point to some patterns in firms’ adoption of energy-efficient technologies, according to the World Bank.
Early discussions with these companies focused on the energy-saving potential of using more efficient motors in the sewing machines the manufacturers use to produce bags and other leather products.
“Firms initially vastly underestimated the energy savings from the new motors,” the World Bank has said. It separated the companies into different groups, giving them different levels of information about and hands-on experience of the new motors. Companies found that the new technology offered an average saving in electricity consumption of 83%.
Before the end of the study, the World Bank said that 10% of the leathergoods companies involved had already invested in the new motors.
