We appreciate the timely call to action by Syeda Rizwana Hasan, advisor for the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the Ministry of Water Resources who once again highlighted our urgent need to confront plastic pollution in the country.
By now, the dangers of plastic use are well known; from the long-term environmental harm caused by single-use plastics that turn into microplastics that infiltrate our food systems, to these plastics being consumed by fish and other marine life threatening our ecology, to the hazardous working conditions in illegal plastic production facilities that have resulted in numerous fires over the years, plastic is something that we must eventually move away from.
With that said, we especially appreciate the advisor for clarifying that the government had not outright banned single-use plastic items but is instead working to discourage their use.
This is the sort of practical approach we should be expecting from our leaders. It is simply not possible to eliminate plastic use overnight, and the fact that the advisor recognizes this, and is looking to encourage the development of safer alternatives by local entrepreneurs is what will help us stop our overreliance on plastic.
While such a pro-active approach does offer some hope that we have the potential to phase out harmful plastics without disrupting our local economies, we cannot do this without simultaneously investing in robust waste management systems as well as having more oversight and accountability in plastic production facilities, something that continues to be woefully missing as powerful and nefarious individuals continue to harm the nation in search of profit.
A better Bangladesh is one that embraces more sustainable solutions. As such, the focus must remain on having sustainable alternatives to plastic, so that very soon, we can be free of them for good.
