Promoting Sustainable Practices and Worker Protection in Bangladesh’s Jhut Sector: Policy Pathways for a Circular Textile Economy

This policy brief aims to help both Bangladesh’s national policymakers and international development

partners to better understand:
(a) how the Jhut sector works,
(b) the size and variety of the workforce in 12 clusters across 10 districts, and
(c) what steps are needed to ensure that new policies for increasing circularity at an industrial scale do not increase costs and risks for workers and small enterprises in the informal economy.

It challenges the idea that workers in the informal economy should be treated as a problem or that formalisation is a straightforward process or welcomed by all actors. Instead, it presents the sector through a ‘do no harm’ approach, emphasising recognition, protection, representation, and gradual improvement.