The Department of Jute has sought the Department of Environment’s help in stopping the production of polyethene or poly bags and sacks in the country as it prepares to implement the Mandatory Jute Packaging Act 2010.
“We have sent a letter at the Department of Environment authorities asking for their cooperation in stopping poly bag production, and we are going to sit in a meeting in this regard soon,” said Mohammad Kefaetulla, director at the Department of Jute.
The environment authorities can help by not permitting poly bag producers to produce the plastic bags and sacks which are used to package rice, sugar, fertiliser and many other products, sources said.
The government enacted the jute packaging act in January last year aiming to revive the jute industry, making it mandatory for the country’s agriculture sector to make all kinds of packaging with jute material.
The law says that paddy, rice, wheat, maize, fertiliser and sugar must be packaged in jute bags. Violation of the law will result in a maximum sentence of one year in jail or a fine of Tk50,000 or both for using non-degradable synthetics to package commodities.
However, the government’s move to implement the Mandatory Jute Packaging Act 2010 has stumbled due to lack of cooperation from rice mill owners, the major instruments in implementing the act.
Most of the rice mills in the country are still using contraband plastic sacks that are also detrimental to the environment.
“Implementation of the act has been slow just because rice mill owners, who are not interested in packing their products in jute sacks, have been blocking the initiative,” Kefaetulla said last month.
Asked about the Department of Jute’s letter, Department of Environment Director General Raisul Islam Mondal told the Dhaka Tribune that his department would lend all its support to the jute sector.
The Department of Environment is the authority responsible to issue environmental clearance to any kind of industry which produces industrial goods, including poly bags.
According to the Department of Jute, around 750 million jute bags are to be used annually and 50% of the jute production will be consumed locally once the packaging act is implemented.
Sources from Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) claimed that the sector would regain strengths overnight if only 20% of the businesses started using bags made of “the Golden Fibre of Bengal.”
Kefaetulla said rice millers use around 1.4 million synthetic sacks annually for packaging their products; if these sacks could be replaced with jute sacks, it could make a significant difference.
