Bangladesh Brick Industry tries to Clean Up Its Act

Bangladesh closes clay brick kilns for environmental protection

Concrete blocks, for example, are in high demand.

Cost of upgrading to advanced kilns or blocks

Tahmid Zami Tahmid Zami

Industry insiders claim that the government is closing polluting kilns to clean up the air and achieve environmental goals. However, adoption of cleaner alternatives has been lagging behind.

Other Asian countries, such as China and Vietnam, are increasingly adopting cleaner alternatives, including automated, energy-efficient brickmaking technology or production of concrete blocks.

According to official statistics, the government's environment agency has closed more than 600 kilns. Approximately 3,500 of Bangladesh's 8,080 kilns will be shut down.

Kilns without the proper documentation to operate were at the beginning of these shutdowns.

Syeda Rizwana Hasan said that many of the illegal structures were located near villages, forests, or schools, in violation with government regulations.

Hasan explained that the switch to alternative materials is a move other countries have made.

Clay bricks are manufactured mainly by burning coal. This produces greenhouse gases and particulate matters that can harm human health. It also uses topsoil, which is vital for the growing of crops in this densely-populated country.

Cost considerations have slowed down Bangladesh's efforts to switch to cleaner alternatives, such as less polluting kilns.

Brick kiln owners were encouraged by the government to convert their fixed-chimney long-necked kilns into zigzag-shaped kilns, which use less energy and emit less toxic gases.

The development organizations are pushing for energy-efficient technologies, such as hybrid Hoffman Kilns (HHK), that capture and use waste heat in order to reduce energy consumption by half.

According to the World Bank, the high initial investment of $2 million per HHK kiln is 15 times more expensive than making a zigzag furnace, which slows their adoption on a large scale.

Bangladesh's Air Quality Management Plan requires the government to switch from using clay-fired blocks in construction projects to concrete blocks.

Hasan said that blocks also have an environmental impact, as they require cement which emits carbon dioxide, but they could save topsoil for agriculture.

The government missed its target to use concrete blocks exclusively in public buildings by 2025.

According to a study conducted by researchers at the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development in 2023, the greatest barrier was the lack of concrete blocks on the market.

According to Bangladeshi building industry members, concrete blocks are currently available for less than 10% market demand.

SHUT DOWN OR REPAIR

Brick producers say that the government's campaign to shut down illegal brick kilns and fine them is not new or particularly effective.

Brick kilns have been banned in residential areas and near natural areas such as forests and mountains. However, many are built without the approval of local authorities.

Insiders say the ban is not effective because kiln operators pay fines and suffer losses during shutdowns to wait until the right moment to restart their operations or to set up another kiln.

Moogdho Mazzab, a research associate at the International Food Policy Research Institute and a development economist, explained that the cost of setting up a factory to produce concrete blocks is too high for most brickmakers.

He said that local brickmakers are better suited to the market than large concrete block factories.

Mahzab explained that in rural Bangladesh when families' incomes increase, they build brick houses as a priority. Local brickmakers are able to meet the large demand of small buyers.

After a short lull in growth, the construction industry is expected to increase by over 6% within the next four-year period. The number of brick kilns have been rising in recent years as a result of the increasing demand.

Abdur Rouf, a brickmaker in the Baktabali area of the Narayanganj District for about two decades now, employs 800 workers to produce six millions bricks per year in his kiln. This is done during the dry season that runs from November through June.

Rouf stated that "no matter what the critics say, you can't meet the massive demand for bricks right now with concrete blocks."

Along the Dhaleswari River, Baktabali has dozens of kilns of this type.

Nina Brooks is an assistant professor at Boston University, United States, who teaches global health.

Brooks, who co-authored a Science article, suggested that instead of closing down existing kilns, simple fixes such as training workers to stack bricks and fire them more efficiently, and using biomass fuel powder could reduce emissions of greenhouse gasses and particulates by 20%.

(source: Reuters)