For centuries jute has been considered the ‘Golden Fiber’ in the Indian sub-continent, especially in Bangladesh for its silky shiny texture. It also has high tensile strength, low extensibility, moderate heat and fire resistance, and long staple lengths (Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation, 2014). It is a biodegradable and eco-friendly fiber. The use of jute is manifold ranging from products to packaging. It is a biodegradable and eco-friendly fiber. The use of jute is manifold ranging from products to packaging. It lost its charisma when plastic-made packaging came and the jute products of Bangladesh couldn’t keep up with modern consumer needs. Once known as golden fiber was on the verge of extinction. However, with plastics taking place in all sectors the end of life of this element became a crucial point. Due to its non-degradable property, it was made famous but this made it extremely harmful for nature. Total production of plastic went from 2.3 million in 1950 to 448 million tons in 2015 which is anticipated to be doubled by 2050 (Parker, 2021). As a responsible producer Jutebar is trying to reintroduce the lost glory of jute by diversifying jute made products to cater the needs of the consumers.
Due to its adaptability and elasticity, jute is recognized as the second most significant vegetable fiber second to cotton. The demand for products made of jute is increasing rapidly every day. Jute products are used for crafts, quilting, and design projects since they are useful for work. If the planet is to be kept clean and healthy, jute products cannot be substituted in any way (Akter et al., 2020). Jute has a high yield per acre and is a renewable energy source. Jute farming has a lower environmental impact than other types of agriculture due to its biological efficiency. Jute is a sustainable material that may be composted and biodegraded. This 100% biodegradable fiber has its use from products like bags, decorative items, packaging to automobile industry, pulp and paper industry, furniture and bedding industry, home textile industry, etc. in addition to being used primarily to manufacture cloth for wrapping bundles of raw cotton. It is also used to make sacks, hessian clothing, carpets, and other items (Khan, 2022). Jute is more versatile, adaptable, durable, reusable, affordable, and regarded as superior to artificial synthetic fibers. Jute is distinguished by its lack of environmental degradation and health hazards, which is one of its main characteristics.
The economic and social Benefits: One of the main ecological values of jute is that, it maintains forests, produces organic fertilization, boosts soil fertility, generates biogas or renewable energy, has high biological efficiency, and so forth. These advantages can be discovered in both scholarly literatures and in interviews. Jute has a market opportunity due to the rising demand for natural fibers. Just to give an idea of it, jute export in Bangladesh in 2020, exported $525M in Jute Yarn, making it the 1st largest exporter of Jute Yarn in the world. At the same year, Jute Yarn was the 17th most exported product in Bangladesh. The main destination of Jute Yarn exports from Bangladesh are: Turkey ($272M), China ($89.4M), India ($43.6M), Egypt ($13.7M), and Russia ($13.7M) (Garcia, n.d.). Additionally, the new use for the product with its increased value makes jute products more appealing and financially viable. Jute has promising future potential, particularly in the geotextile, automotive, infrastructure, and packaging industries. The jute industry will expand, leading to increased employment opportunities and improved economic and environmental benefits. Already, the jute sector employs almost 25 million people in Bangladesh, both directly and indirectly. Jute, then, has an impact on society (Jahan.A, 2020).
|
|
|
|
Figure: Comparison of Jute Export of Bangladesh from 2000 to 2020
With increased awareness on climate change and environmental degradation, jute has unquestionably secured its position as an environmentally friendly product. As a result, there is a greater economic opportunity to marketing jute products in overseas because more individuals are interested in using jute products. A recent analysis estimates that the worldwide jute market generated US$2.7 billion in revenue in 2018 and that this figure will rise by 4.6% in 2019. From 2007 to 2018, the market value climbed at a 1.4% average annual pace (IndexBox, 2019). In addition, the worldwide automobile sector requires around 100,000 tons of jute annually. Leading automobile manufacturers including BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Renault, Mitsubishi, and Volvo have already received 12,000 tons of Bangladesh’s highest-quality jute (Hossain & Nishu, 2021).
Jute over Plastic
The invention of plastic has threatened the jute market and the business was almost extinct. However, People are more cautious about using plastic because of the enormous damage it causes to the environment. Many nations are striving to cut back on the use of plastic products, particularly plastic bags. The global market for shopping bags is estimated to be worth at least $500 billion annually, with a demand for 500 billion units. Jute bags would be an alternative biodegradable and environmentally beneficial product if the use of plastic bags were to decline (Jahan.A, 2019). Herein lies a promising market opportunity for jute (Ahmed and Kader, 2014, p.3). Plastic bags are bad for the environment since they don’t degrade and they contribute to global warming. According to statistics, 100 million to 1 trillion plastic bags are used annually, and it will take roughly 1000 years to recycle them after they have caused several environmental hazards (Pavel and Supinit, 2017, p. 625). Therefore, it is anticipated that biodegradable jute bags will have many commercial opportunities on the global market in terms of environmental preservation (Jahan.A, 2019).
|
|
|
Figure: Comparison of Life Cycle of Plastic and Jute products
The European Plastic pact aims to reduce virgin plastic products and packaging by at least 20% (by weight) by 2025, with half of this reduction coming from an absolute reduction in plastics. This will help users to use plastic packaging and single-use plastic products more responsibly in other words looking for alternatives (European Plastic Pact, 2022).
Items made of jute fabric are biodegradable, so if they aren’t used for a while, they will naturally decompose, removing pollutants from the environment. Jute can also be used as garden compost. For all of these reasons, we can claim that jute is the most environmentally friendly natural fiber that currently exists. It is a natural product that decomposes within a certain time frame and does not produce any environmental damage (Top 21 Benefits of Jute and Jute Bags, 2022). Products made of jute are frequently utilized for design and aesthetic reasons. Different jute objects are used, especially for wall decoration. For example, embroidered artwork, framed goods, framed photos, tapestries, framed mirrors, wall decals, wall hangings, storage hacking pockets, key holders, etc (Akter et al., 2020).
References
Akter, S., Sadekin, M., & Islam, N. (2020). Jute and Jute Products of Bangladesh: Contributions and Challenges. Asian Business Review, 10(3), 143-xxx. https://doi.org/10.18034/abr.v10i3.480
Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (2014). Jute at a glance, Retrieved 12 October 2022, from https://tinyurl.com/3zrtnv5m
Garcia, F. (n.d.). Jute Yarn in Bangladesh | OEC. OEC – the Observatory of Economic Complexity. Retrieved October 13, 2022, from https://oec.world/en/profile/bilateral-product/jute-yarn/reporter/bgd
Hossain, M. M., & Nishu, N. S. (2021, March 11). State-Owned Jute Mills in Bangladesh: Problems and Possible Way-Out. International Journal of Business and Management, Vol. 16(4). https://doi.org/10.5539/ijbm.v16n4p63
IndexBox. (2019). Global Jute Market 2019 – Bangladesh Continues to Dominate Exports, Despite Decline in the Past Few Years. Global Trade. Retrieved 10 February 2021, from https://www.globaltrademag.com/global-jute-market-2019-bangladesh-continues-to-dominate- exports-despi te-decline-in-the-past-few-years/
Jahan, A., (2019), The environmental and economic prospects of jute with a connection to social factors for achieving sustainable development. Master Thesis in Sustainable Development at Uppsala University. No. 2019/18, 36 pp, 30 ECTS/hp
Khan, A. (2022). Ensuring a Sustainable Future for Jute Sector. Daily Sun. Retrieved 12 October 2022, from https://www.daily-sun.com/printversion/details/637748/Ensuring-a-Sustainable-Future-for- Jute- Sector
Pavel, S. and Supinit, V. (2017). Bangladesh Invented Bioplastic Jute Poly Bag and International Market Potentials. Open Journal of Business and Management, 5(04), p.624.
European Plastic Pact. (2022, May). European Plastic Pact Annual Report 2020-21. In https://europeanplasticspact.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/the-european-plastics-pact-annual-report-2020-2021.pdf.
Top 21 Benefits Of Jute And Jute Bags 2022. www.eco-sacks.com. (2022). Retrieved 12 October 2022, from https://www.eco-sacks.com/post/advantages-of-jute-bags.