The Bangladesh Nature Conservation Alliance (BNCA), a coalition of 33 environmental rights organizations have expressed concern over the proposal to withdraw the supplementary tax on polythene bags and packaging in the FY 2022-23.
“The price of polythene bags, which are very harmful to the environment, will be reduced and the use of this banned material and environmental pollution in the country will increase, if the proposal is implemented,” BNCA said in a media statement on Tuesday.
The proposal to withdraw the supplementary duty is contradictory as the government and government agencies have been protesting the use of harmful polythene, it added.
According to BNCA the intention of such proposal is to encourage the usage of plastic even though it has been banned by law in 2002.
The environmental situation of Bangladesh is disastrous and plastic being a non-degradable product is having a severe impact on the environment, the statement said.
The BNCA made a number of demands including reassessing the proposal of withdrawing supplementary tax, proper implementation of the law to ban environmentally harmful polythene and plastics and taking appropriate steps by the government to stop the use of polythene.
It also recommended bringing all industries that are harmful to the environment under tariffs and encouraging eco-friendly industries.
