BJMC, UK company sign MoU on 'Sonali Bag' production

Secretariat Correspondent: Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Futamura Chemical Ltd, a United Kingdom-based company, for technical help in producing environment-friendly and perishable ‘Sonali Bag’ from jute commercially.

BJMC Secretary AKM Tareq and Futamura General Manager Graeme Coulthard signed the MoU on behalf of their respective sides.

State Minister for Textiles and Jute Mirza Azam attended the MoU signing ceremony held at the ministry’s meeting room on Tuesday.

As per the agreement, Bangladesh will go on commercial production of the bag within next 6-9 months, said the state minister.

The UK chemical company will supply the necessary instruments for this, he added.

Sonali Bags are a biodegradable and environmentally-friendly poly bag made of jute.

However, environment-friendly Sonali bags will be produced using a species of jute invented by Bangladeshi scientist, as an alternative to polythene bags.

Bangladeshi scientist Dr Mubarak Ahmad Khan, a scientific advisor of BJMC and former chief scientific officer of Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission, created the Sonali Bag from jute cellulose.

The Primary Pilot Plant (PPP) for producing Sonali Bags was set up at Latif Bawani Jute Mills in Demra.

State Minister for Textiles and Jute Mirza Azam, senior secretary of the ministry Faizur Rahman Chowdhury, BJMC Chairman Dr Md Mahmudul Hasan and the inventor Dr Mubarak Ahmad Khan, among others, were present at the signing ceremony.


risingbd/Dhaka/Oct 2, 2018/Asad/AI