Per capita plastic consumption triples in Bangladesh: WB

The annual per capita plastic consumption in Bangladesh’s urban areas tripled in the last 15 years to 9 kg, says a World Bank report unveiled in Dhaka on Monday.

It found that Dhaka’s plastic consumption is 3.13 times higher on average than the national average of 22.25 kg per person.

In 2005, per capita plastic consumption in the capital was 9.2 kg which increased to 17.2 kg in 2014 and 22.25 kg last year. The report noted that the average consumption in urban areas was 3.01 kg in 2005, which rose to 3.5 kg in 2014. From there, the consumption soared to 9 kg in 2020.

The report said that 70 per cent of the plastic waste was mismanaged as a significant amount litters the rivers and water bodies and finally pollute the ocean.

Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Md Shahab Uddin said Bangladesh banned polythene bags in 2002 to reduce plastic waste.

“We generate less plastic but suffer more because of poor management. Our management system needs to improve following reduce, reuse and recycle policy adopted by the government in 2010,” he said.

He also unveiled the ‘National Action Plan for Sustainable Plastic Management’ which set a target of recycling 50 per cent of plastics by 2025, phase out targeted single-use plastic by 90 per cent by 2026, and reduce plastic waste generation by 30 per cent by 2030 from 2020-21 baseline.

Pandemic escalates plastic waste mismanagement

According to the WB baseline report, Bangladesh produced 14,09,094 tonnes of plastic yearly. While 69 per cent of them are used in the country, the rest is exported.

Of the 9,77,000 tonnes plastic waste generated in country, 70 per cent is mismanaged while only 30 per cent is collected for recycling, according to the baseline study conducted between November 2019 and November 2020.

Dhaka generates 6,464 tonnes municipal waste per day and 10 per cent or 646 tonnes of them is plastics.

Out of 646 tonnes, 310.7 tonnes dumped in the dumping yards, 240.5 tonnes are recycled and the rest 17.5 tonnes remain uncollected. Of them, 77.5 tonnes litter the water bodies.

Analysing plastic waste composition in Dhaka, WB reported that the city people generate the highest 323 tonnes of Low-Density Polyethene (LDPE) daily but only 174 tonnes of it is collected.

“With rapid growth and urbanisation, Bangladesh faced a sharp increase in both plastic use and pollution. The Covid-19 pandemic has escalated the problem of mismanaged plastic waste,” said Dandan Chen, World Bank Acting Country Director for Bangladesh.

“Going forward, sustainable plastic management—from designing a product, to minimising plastic use, to recycling—will be critical to ensure green growth for the country. We commend the government’s commitment to implement a National Action Plan to beat plastic pollution,” she said.

37% wastes recycled

Waste Concern co-founder and Executive Director Abu Hasnat Md Maqsood Sinha said that the plastic wastes are creating serious health concern for people as they are getting mixed in food cycle.

He said that the waste is wealth if it can be properly managed. To ensure better management, the government should adopt a pragmatic policy to encourage people to return plastic in the proper chain and inspire entrepreneurs to invest in the sector.

“Extended Producers Responsibility is also important, among others,” he said.

He said that only 37 per cent of the total waste is recycled in Bangladesh and it was gradually decreasing as multilayer plastic packaging are getting popular in Bangladesh, creating difficulties in the recycling process.

Norway’s Ambassador to Bangladesh Espen Rikter Svendsen called for managing waste environmentally. “It (plastic pollution) is creating problems in the ocean but the solution is in the land,” he said.

Director General of the Department of Environment Md Ashraf Uddin said that they were working to create an online-based waste exchange market so that people can sell their waste.

“We are also raising awareness, promoting innovation and creating partnerships to reduce plastic pollution among others,” he said.

The action plan provides a blueprint for managing plastic pollution over the short term (2022–2023), medium-term (2024–2026), and long-term (2027–2030), which will require an integrated cross-sectorial approach.

Emphasis on circular economy

World Bank Senior Environment Specialist and co-author of the report Eun Joo Allison Yi said the National Action Plan for Sustainable Plastic Management focuses on the circular use of plastic based on a 3R strategy: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

A circular economy will help create new value chains, green skills, employment, and innovative products while addressing social and environmental challenges, she said.

Bangladesh progressively took steps in curbing plastic pollution, with varied outcomes. In 2020, the High Court directed the authorities concerned to ban single-use plastic in coastal areas and all hotels and motels across the country.

Bangladesh ranked 162 out of 180 countries in the 2020 Environmental Performance Index (EPI). It was in the third-worst position in South Asia, only ahead of India (168) and Afghanistan (178).

In a 2018 report, the World Bank said economic losses from environmental degradation in urban Bangladesh was estimated to be $6.5 billion (3.4 per cent of GDP) and $1.44 billion in Dhaka alone in 2015.

The same year (2015), air and water pollution caused nearly 28 per cent of the total recorded deaths in Bangladesh, the report said.