There are 78,000 tons of polythene waste generated in Bangladesh in the last year

By Adnan Tazvir

Due to Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, more than 78,000 tons of polythene waste was produced in Bangladesh in the last year. The figures come from a study by the Environment and Social Development Organization-ESDO, a non-governmental organization.

In a press release, ESDO said that this assessment period is from April 2020 to March 2021 and most of the polythene waste is produced by the use of one-time polythene bags.

According to the survey, the total amount of waste generated from polythene bags used in the capital Dhaka is about 5,996 tons.  It is about 78,433 tons in the whole of the country. In addition, the production of illegal polythene bags has raised to about 5 million per day.

According to the press release, World Environment Day is celebrated on June 5 every year.  It is also known as the United Nations Flag Day to promote global environmental awareness.

Over the years, it has become known as the largest global platform for environmental publicity and millions of people around the world are celebrating this day.

This year, ESDO has celebrated this day to enforce the Polythene Bag Prohibition Act in Bangladesh.

Representatives of different ministries of Bangladesh, environmental experts, NGOs, and teachers of different educational institutions took part in the virtual event. They highlighted the widespread need for grassroots to top-level strict law enforcement in polythene bag bans.

Environmental experts say positive steps should be taken immediately to address the harmful situation of using illegal polythene bags.

Syed Margub Morshed retired Secretary of Bangladesh and Chairperson of ESDO presided over the function. Keya Khan, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, also lay heads together in the function.