In 2002, when Bangladesh declared a complete ban on the production, import, marketing, and use of polythene bags—a type of single-use plastic bag—it stood alone in the league. It became the first country in the world to do so.
Since Bangladesh introduced its plastic bag ban in 2002, more than 130 other countries have followed suit with either complete or partial bans on thin plastic bags.
In more recent years, countries have been introducing laws against common single-use items such as straws, cutlery, drink stirrers, and food containers.
Over the years, Bangladesh has miserably failed to follow through on its firm resolve against plastic pollution, as demonstrated by the 2002 polythene ban. The photograph at the top of this page is a painful testament to reality, showing how far we’ve drifted from banning and restricting our use of plastics.
Shuvadda Canal—once a lifeline for the city outskirts, including Keraniganj, and a link between the rivers Buriganga and Dhaleshwari—is now less a canal and more a dumping ground for plastics and other household and industrial waste.
As a last-ditch effort, the government is now set to embark on an over Tk300 crore programme to give Shuvadda—a canal on death row—a new lease of life.
The sorry state of Shuvadda Canal is a living testimony to Bangladesh’s failure to save its soil and water from plastic pollution.
We’re faced with this grim reality at a time when nations are observing World Environment Day today with renewed commitment towards securing a global treaty to end plastic pollution, including in the marine environment. This year’s theme for the day is “Beat Plastic Pollution.”
In November 2023, 175 countries agreed to develop legally binding agreements on plastic pollution by 2024 through the development of a Global Plastics Treaty. A year later, in November 2024, the Republic of Korea hosted the 5th session of negotiations to develop the treaty. The second part of the session will take place from 5 to 14 August this year in Geneva, Switzerland.
Probably, this is high time for Bangladesh to reflect on its 2002 ban commitment and join the big league of nations who have not only come from behind in declaring bans on single-use plastics and polythene, but have also successfully enforced them.
If a 2021 World Bank report is anything to go by, Bangladesh’s annual per capita plastic consumption in urban areas tripled—from three kilograms in 2005 to nine kilograms in 2020. A large part of the plastic waste is dumped in landfills, water bodies, and rivers.
The World Bank report had recommended that focusing on the circular use of plastic by adopting a 3R strategy (Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle) could help Bangladesh beat plastic pollution.
A silver lining
Bangladesh is now part of a multi-country and multi-faceted initiative that is helping to advance the 3R strategy.
South Asian waste management companies, civil society groups, and communities have collectively prevented 10.2 million kilograms of plastic waste from polluting the region’s rivers and seas over the past five years. That’s roughly equal to the weight of about 2,550 fully grown Asian elephants.
This has been achieved under the Plastic Free Rivers and Seas of South Asia (PLEASE) project, implemented by the South Asia Co-operative Environment Programme (SACEP).
The PLEASE project has also enabled the recycling of over 626,000 kilograms of plastic waste into useful resources in Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka—its six participating countries.
In Bangladesh, floating trash barriers have been deployed in waterways to effectively intercept plastic, preventing further pollution downstream and safeguarding marine ecosystems.
For example, the trash barriers deployed by RedOrange Communications in Kallyanpur, Ramchandrapur Khal, and Mohammadia Housing Road intercept 1,200 kilograms of plastic daily.
While such initiatives taken by non-government actors may create good examples, they cannot suffice to beat plastic pollution nationwide. The Bangladesh government and its Ministry of Environment must come into play with renewed vigour—where commitments are translated into actionable results—to free the country from the curse of plastic pollution before it’s too late.
About the 2025 theme
Plastic pollution exacerbates the deadly impacts of the triple planetary crisis: the crisis of climate change; the crisis of nature, land, and biodiversity loss; and the crisis of pollution and waste.
Globally, an estimated 11 million tons of plastic waste leak into aquatic ecosystems each year, while microplastics accumulate in the soil from sewage and landfills, due to the use of plastics in agricultural products.
The annual social and environmental cost of plastic pollution is estimated to range between $300 billion and $600 billion.
