About 700 tons of polythene are used in Dhaka City every day
Polythene and plastic products have become a serious threat to the environment. Previous governments have taken various steps to ban harmful polythene and plastic, but they have not been effective.
In light of the current environmental crisis, the present Interim government has decided to carry out an all-out campaign against polythene and plastic to prevent environmental pollution and preserve biodiversity.
The interim government’s environmental advisor has banned single-use plastics in all government offices.
Subsequently, a notification was released naming 17 types of single-use plastics. Apart from this, instructions have been given not to keep polythene shopping bags and polypropylene bags in super-shops from October 1. The 17 types of single-use plastic products include-
straws, stirrers, single-use plastic bags, balloons, sticks or sticks used with ice cream or lollipops, plastic banners less than 100 microns thick, plastic wrappers for posters, single-use plastic mini packets of various products, plastic wrappers for chocolates and lollipops. , plastic-coated fast food wrappers, plastic invitations, invitation cards, thermal lamination used on promotional materials, plastic-coated cigarette packets, tissue paper, toilet paper, toilet-roll, soap wrappers, melamine foam sponges, cigarette filters, and plastic bottles.
The Department of Environment reports that the country generates an alarming three thousand tons of polythene and plastic waste daily. According to a joint study by the Department of Environment and Waste Concern, only 36 percent of plastic is recycled.
Another, 39% of plastic waste goes to landfills, while 25% flows into the Bay of Bengal via rivers. In Dhaka, around 700 tonnes of single-use plastic are discarded daily into drains, swamps, canals, rivers, and abandoned areas.
These wastes are spreading indiscriminately in the nature due to lack of environmentally friendly management. Due to polythene and plastic, the water flow of canals as well as rivers in urban areas is stopped.
As per various sources, the government issued a circular in 2002 prohibiting the use, production, sale, purchase, import, and export of polythene, aiming to combat environmental pollution and safeguard biodiversity.
The Environmental Protection Act has been amended to ban the use, production, sale, purchase, import, and export of polythene, along with the addition of penalties.
After that, the use of polythene decreased a little but due to lack of proper enforcement of the law, polythene came back again. The unplanned use of different plastics, alongside polythene, is now a major concern nationwide.
The environmental adviser expressed concern about the widespread, unplanned use of polythene and plastic, noting that people commonly buy polythene bags from stores. We do not say why we are giving polythene bags, it is prohibited. We bring it by hand. Everyone should be aware of this.
She mentioned that, besides office courts and market areas, coral island St. Martin, Kuakata beach, and the Sundarbans mangrove forest will urgently work to eliminate single-use plastics and polythene.
