Reduce, reuse, recycle, reinvent: Bangladesh’s urgent need for change

The United Nations reached an important milestone in 2022, when all 193 Member States concurred to create a legally binding Global Treaty to stop plastic pollution by 2024. However, while it has acknowledged the problem of plastic pollution in theory, the question remains, what can Bangladesh do to stop it? Even though plastic waste has been accumulating exponentially across the country, Bangladesh is not taking the steps and seems to be less concerned.

Bangladesh paved the way when it decided to ban the use of polythene bags back in 2002. Although it seemed like a pioneering move at the time it was, in reality, not an intelligent approach. Without affordable alternatives and effective implementation tools, such command-and-control policies are often ineffective. Therefore, Bangladesh requires a market-based approach to mitigate the use and production of polythene bags. Despite the current restriction on polythene bags, the government lifted the 5 per cent supplementary duty on all plastic or polythene bags in FY2022. This undermines the case for a circular economy and makes it more difficult to limit plastic pollution.

Although Bangladesh produces less plastic waste as opposed to the more developed nations, the amount of mismanaged plastic waste remains arresting. Mismanaged plastics are waste products that are discarded indiscriminately and not adequately managed through a proper waste disposal system. In Dhaka, not even half of the plastic waste generated gets recycled while in coastal areas of Bangladesh, about 89 per cent of plastic waste is mismanaged.

Since 2005, the average per capita consumption of plastic has increased from 3 kg per year to 9 kg per year in 2020. In Dhaka alone, the average consumption of plastic has more than doubled between 2005 and 2020. Single-use plastics which includes clear plastic thin wraps, coffee cups and lids, utensils, straws, coffee stirrers, caps, bottles, and polythene bags are perhaps the leading cause of plastic pollution in the urban streets of Bangladesh.

As plastic pollution silently proliferates in the urban streets of the country, it is slowly damaging the environment, transforming Dhaka’s canals into dumping zones, and suffocating drainage systems, which leads to floods in urban areas of Bangladesh. More alarmingly, plastic endangers marine biodiversity as creatures are at risk of indigestion, entanglement, and asphyxia. This problem permeates through the food chain as humans are now consuming fish containing plastic particles, at significant risk to their health. For Bangladesh, the increasing prevalence of microplastic-contaminated fish may render marine creatures unfit for human consumption. This may have economic consequences in the long run, affecting the export volume for fish if Bangladesh cannot meet the sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) conditions of partner countries, potentially worsening trade.

Additionally, the expense of clean-up costs is a burden on local governments and municipalities. It is common to see the majority of the budget for a city corporation in Bangladesh used up to cover clean-up costs. The estimated clean-up cost of plastic waste for the government in 2020 was as high as 30 per cent of the total revised budget for the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in 2020.
International pressure to tackle plastic waste is growing. On 2 June 2023, the second round of negotiations for the UN Global Treaty to End Plastic Pollution took place in Paris. UN Member States agreed to create a ‘zero draft’ before the next round of negotiations which will take place in Kenya in November this year.

For the sake of keeping its own citizens healthy and its economy growing sustainably, Bangladesh should reorient its priorities and seek to be a global leader in tackling the plastic problem. To do this, the government must consider practical initiatives and strategies which include well-thought-through implementation tools to alleviate plastic pollution from its urban streets. First, it is crucial to manage the existing plastic waste much more efficiently. This can be done by initiatives that influence source segregation at the household level allowing waste collectors to gather a greater volume of cleaner plastic which can later be sold to recycling shops.

Furthermore, city corporations in Bangladesh need to facilitate a network between plastic manufacturers and waste collectors to increase the collection of all types of plastic items which will help increase the pace of recycling. The government and the private sector also need to collaborate to create a market for single-use plastic products which will encourage waste collectors to intentionally amass single-use plastic items that can be sold and recycled.

This will not only help manage plastic waste better but also open another avenue of income for waste collectors. However, producers need to take responsibility to design products that are sustainable and easier to recycle in the first place. This will facilitate the process of recycling, making it easier for the city corporation to manage plastic waste more effectively.
The common adage is to "reduce, reuse, and recycle," however this may need some updating when it comes to plastic pollution.

Perhaps it is better to change the narrative at this point and promote reducing the number of new plastic items entering the value chain, reusing and recycling any plastic products that are currently there through better waste management processes, while also reinventing new plastic-alternative products that are just as practical and cost-effective. It is time for Bangladesh to be a pioneer again and take the mantle towards creating a plastic free country.

*Fahmida Khatun is the Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and Afrin Mahbub is a Programme Associate (Research) at CPD. Views expressed are of the authors only, and do not represent Prothom Alo or CPD.