How Juteborg is working with all the SDGs

We are targeting all the 17 SDGs in Juteborg through our different projects

In Bangladesh, there are 163 million people. Almost 1/3 is depending on the jute industry in one way or the other which is around 50 million people. Most of them are poor. By reinventing the jute industry in Bangladesh and refining the raw jute in the country itself, Juteborg will be part of poverty reduction in the country. For example, our study suggest, during the monsoon, Jute farmers live on USD 1.1 per day on average. Through our project “Farmer to Factory Jute Supply Chain” Juteborg aims to increase the income upto 4 times. Besides, Juteborg’s JuteEffect movement itself provides work for disadvantaged women and open up their possibility to self-sustain and economically empowered.

Where poverty is decreased – so is hunger. Jute is also cultivated in the crop rotation and this should be the overall routine. 2 crop of food/rice or vegetables and 1 crop of jute every year. The jute crop makes the soil fertile and there is, in fact, no need for fertilizers or even pesticides. Besides, jute grows during the monsoon and it is the most realistic crop during this season when the 4 million farmers, more than 20 million people remain mostly cashless as a result they cut back from their food primarily. With Farmer to Factory (F2F) jute supply chain, Juteborg wishes to give back fair price to the Jute farmers engaging relevant stakeholders. Thus, it also helps in reducing hunger. During the season it is also considered as staple food. Jute leaves are very nutritious, full of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals.

Juteborg’s initiative – Farmer to Factory (F2F) Jute Supply Chain (JSC) will bring more health and wellbeing of the farmers and their families by increasing their daily income. Also by choosing other older culture seeds to rice than white rice, black rice, for example, is much healthier and cuts out health issues such as diabetics through a probable collaboration with organizations working to make nutritious grains. Besides, by adding value to jute and ensuring a fair price to the farmers, many would return to cultivate more jute from other harmful crops for example – tobacco on their land.

Farmer to Factory Jute Supply Chain (F2F) will allow the more than 4 million Jute farmers in Bangladesh to have better earnings which will allow them adequate cash to provide education to their kids. Not only that, this F2F project will bring in custom-made education for the farmers so that combining with their inherent knowledge they could become more productive in sustainable cultivation. Besides, JuteLab international and Juteborg will also collaborate with universities, both in Sweden and Bangladesh to facilitate student exchange programs for knowledge sharing and ensuring quality education.

Juteborg actively works for women empowerment and inspiration for girls education through JuteEffect. Example of an ongoing collaboration with Tarango, an NGO in Bangladesh, who have been working to empower disadvantaged women since 80s and already supported 25 000 + women in their network. Juteborg through its JuteEffect project working together to co-develop beautiful handcrafted premium quality Jute based products for Scandinavian and European markets. This eventually helping to bring gender quality by economically empowering them. In rest of Juteborg’s projects, we ensure more than 50% presence of women in the value chain; an example of JutePP – jute fiber reinforced plastic granule production factory in Bangladesh is also aiming for such gender equality in the workforce.

Part of the F2F project takes care of the water purification and rainwater conservation in order to safeguard clean water. Besides, also jute felt could be used as the possible material in jute innovations in purifying water. A toilet solution in collaboration with CompostEra – which does not use an water in the toilet system. Together with the inventor Juteborg will also try out jute composites materials in making those sanitation solutions instead of plastic

 

Juteborg promotes sustainability and works together with electric car companies. Jute composites to make vehicles lighter and more sustainable. eCon demo/lab, the Nordic center of Jute also showcases sustainability by displaying the solutions from companies like Powercell, Clean motion, wind-turbines, solar-cells. Juteborg´s jute-based composites are for instance 30 % lighter than glass-fiber and will help out to lower the weight of the electric vehicles.
Juteborg is now planning to build a JutePP plant factory. Here we will promote and use solar panels and clean energy.

Juteborg´s Code of Conduct and Policy shows the way for decent work and economic growth, especially in Bangladesh. Responsible business is our mantra. Fair trade, decent salaries and good working conditions are prioritized. Our partners are sharing our core values. To asses this in a larger scale we will set international standards and certifications. For example, BSCI, BEPI and Amfori. We can also introduce QuizRR. Juteborg will be the initiator and see to

 

Juteborg is an innovative company based on the strategy of IntersectionPoint – Diversity drives innovation. Here we combine the sectors of Construction/Interior, Automotive/Transportation, Textile/Fashion and Packaging to find the synergetic effects in new products and materials that we develop and go to market together with our partners in a Triple Helix model.

When it comes to volume production we form Joint ventures with strong local Bangladeshi partners and start bulk production. First out is JutePP – Our jute fiber reinforced plastic granule for injection moulding. A JutePP plant factory will be built.

One of Juteborg´s core values is Equality. Equality in gender, race, belief, age, disability and so forth. This core value is highlighted in our Code of Conduct and the policy of our company. These documents follow our agreements with the partner and are to be followed up. By our F2F where we will raise (according to calculation) the farmers’ salary during the monsoon season 4 times, and by being part of lifting the entire economy of the country by jute industry

 

eCon DemoLab on top roof of Nordstan shopping mall in Gothenburg/Sweden is showcasing Affordable, Transportable and Sustainable housing units. Here Juteborg has our office and opened up Nordic Center of Jute – promoting sustainability in a holistic viewpoint. Jute-based prototypes and products are showcased here, but also other smart sustainable solutions within all the sectors of Juteborg.
Juteborg is also on our way to produce jute-based composites, material and products for the Construction/Interior industry. This sector is the fast lane of reaching the Sustainable Development Goals due to the volume production.

All work of Juteborg leads back to responsible consumption and production. First of all, since we are focusing on the most sustainable material in the world and will act as change agent in our respective industries to promote the better choices. One way of dealing with this is by Juteborg workshop, where we together with a company can analyze where a jute-based choice is doable. Where are the risks and the opportunities? Where is the business potential and the lowest hanging fruits as well as the long-term investment.

 

Since we argue that jute is the most sustainable material in the world it is also very ecological and can help us mitigate and adapt considering the challenges of global warming. According to the experts, a country needs 25% forests of the total area whereas in Bangladesh it is 13% now. Jute plant could play crucial role since one hectare of jute plants consumes about 15 MT CO2 and liberates 11 MT of O2. Besides, the production of 1 MT of dry jute fiber can fixate 2.5 MT CO2eq. during the lifetime of jute cultivation. Nitrogen gas is one of the key carbon emission factors in the agriculture where Jute plant could play strong role by reducing the usage of artificial fertilizers and pesticides in the next crop. Jute crops incorporate 5.43 million tons of dry leaves per year to the soil which provide nutrition to the soil.
Jute can be a good climate adaptation strategy for the 4 million (approx.) farmers in Bangladesh. Rain is forecasted to increase during monsoon which the country has started to experience already. Jute is the most realistic crop to grow during the rainy season which helps the farmers to reduce risk of destruction of other crops during this time of the year.
Being in the developed country, it is hard to realize the impact of climate change. Bangladesh is experiencing the impact already as the sea level is increasing. A recent pilot study done by Bangladesh Jute Research Institute using Jute genome found that, jute could be grown in the land with higher salinity. This gives an opportunity to grow Jute in additional 2169 (000 acres) unused land.
For every percentage we exchange bad materials into jute we make the world a better place.

Juteborg´s work is focusing on considerably lower the usage of plastics in the world. In JutePP for instance, we use 50% jute and 50% polypropylene, preferably recycled. We are working, with our customers’ requirements of the specific products, to customize the recipe of JutePP just for that product. If possible we´ll go for biodegradable bioplastics. We are also investigating biodegradable bioplastics that don´t take away land area from food production. Juteborg will be General Agent for Europe when it comes to a jute cellulose plastic. It biodegrades in the soil in three months and in water in 8 hours.

Jute is so sustainable and so ecofriendly. We don´t need the fertilizers or the pesticides when growing in the crop rotation with rice – and it herby doesn´t take away land area from food production. Our research project C-jute (read cute) – a Cotton Jute blend in one-thread will help out to bring down the usage of cotton. By processing jute in new ways, we can promote exchanging from cotton, which is heavily destructive for the soil and the water consumption as well as chemicals. When jute prices is going up – which is the aim of Juteborg – farmers would stop cultivating tobacco which also is very bad for the soil and go back to jute.

Juteborg work in Triple Helix to promote Peace Justice and strong institutions in all projects. It will be most visible in F2F. In our Code of Conduct and the Policy of the company that follows all agreements, we sign these core values are highlighted. We intend to bridge our Swedish values into Bangladesh – for instance, zero tolerances in bribery and corruption.

 

 

Juteborg works Triple Helix and forms collaborative networks within the projects. To scale up, in making a large impact Juteborg initiated JuteLab International. This is a membership neutral, nonprofit organization for building and scaling up jute based projects and knowhow. Here we stimulate co-creation and agreed transparency.

 

 

Together we stand!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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