AFTER years of slack enforcement of the Polythene Bag Control Act 2002, the interim government has taken a move to phase out plastic products that are used once and discarded and begun drives against polythene bags. The environment and forest ministry issued a directive in August that listed 17 single-use plastic products, including bottles, bags, fast food wrap and one-time cutlery as hazardous and asked retailers and others to phase them out. The government on September 6 also decided to stop the use of single-use and hazardous plastic products in all public offices. The ban on the use of polythene in supermarkets was enforced in October and the same directive now applies to all retail stores and markets. Drives are already in place to take action against traders and vendors if they are found to be using polythene bags. Considering the environmental and public health burden of plastic pollution, the decision is a welcome move. But, there should be a long-term phase-out plan that will provide alternatives to hazardous plastic products and ensure the livelihood of the people affected by the decision.
The decision came against the backdrop of severe plastic pollution. A World Bank report earlier said that Bangladesh鈥檚 annual per capita plastic consumption in urban areas tripled to 9 kilograms in 2020 from three kilograms in 2005. An estimated 250 tonnes of single-use plastic enter the environment a month, of which about 80鈥�85 per cent, once discarded, ends up in drains, lakes, rivers and the Bay of Bengal. Metal and toxic waste released from disposed plastic items get diffused in the environment and enter the food chain. However, for an effective implementation of the decision, the government needs to ensure a biodegradable alternative. Decades of marketing of polythene bags and single-use plastic products has changed consumer behaviour and for a change in the practice, there is a need for awareness campaigns. In October, the Plastic Foundation, a platform of plastic manufacturers, demanded that the government should hold consultation with stakeholders and consider a timeframe of a minimum of six months to one year to support the transition to alternatives to polythene. The industrial economy in this case is not necessarily limited to the concerns of the industry owners that the sudden ban will risk their investment. There is also the informal recycling economy that the working class, especially floating people in urban areas, relies on for their livelihood.
For the government to stop the use of hazardous polythene bags and single-use plastic, it should consider consulting stakeholders from industry owners, workers, consumers and the working class people involved in the recycling economy and design a long-term plan to divest from single-use plastic products. The government should also consider financial support and training for stakeholders to make the transition to biodegradable alternatives viable.