Focus given to hygiene, not on cause

The authority’s recent action plan to eliminate single-use plastic from 12 coastal districts has drawn the ire of environmentalists as the proposition did not focus on stamping out the sources of production.

The echo-activists say the scheme to keep disposable plastic items at bay is nothing but a show-off, or at best a formality which will hardly bring any efficacy.

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has recently taken up a three-year plan to remove plastic from 12 districts situated in littoral areas.

The plan was published in a gazette notification on June 21. It says disposable plastic will be banned in eight areas under Chattogram metropolitan vicinity and also in 40 upazilas under 12 coastal districts by 2023.

Environmentalists have long been raising their voice over the detrimental effect of the use of one-way plastic product on the environment which ultimately ends up in coasts, seas and oceans.

“Pollution from single-use plastic will never end until action is taken to end its production.

Polythene is banned, but has its production stopped, or has it phased out?” asked ShahriarHossain, an environmentalist.

“Therefore, the plan to do away with such single-use plastic items will not hold water. It is all but a formality.”

The secretary general of Environment and Social Development Organisation (ESDO)told The Business Post that this non-recyclable waste are generated everywhere and finally they end up in the sea through rivers.

Shahriar suggested taking stern action to put an end to its production.

According to a 2019 study titled Single Use Plastic: Hidden Costs of Health and Environment in Bangladesh conducted by the organisation, Bangladesh produces around 87,000 metric tonnes of single-use plastic waste annually.

Of them, around 95 per cent or 83,520tonnes come solely from food and personal care packaging, 53,978 tonnes from food wrappers, 28,846 tonnes from sachets and 286 tonnes from straws. The rest come from other sources.

In the elimination plan, mostly used throwaway plastics such as lollypop cover sachets, cigarette filters, cotton buds, non-recyclable non-biodegradable items (multilayer packaging) were excluded from the removal list and defined them as solid waste.

And no elimination clause was included in the plan for this kind of ephemeral plastic waste.

About these items, the plan suggests thattraining will be provided on waste collection and dumping.

Besides, a pilot programme will be taken up followingthe approach of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) after formulating solid waste rules.

“That lollypop and multilayered sachetshave been excluded from the list of single-use plastic and are being treated only as solid waste suggests that all chocolate, biscuit and entire sachets and other plastic packaging materials will remain out of enforcement,”observed ShahriarHossain.

“Even the plan explained nowhere how the action will be taken.”

As per the three-year plan, single-use plasticitems will be removed from domestic airplanes, coast and shipsin the first year.

In the second year, hotels, motels, restaurants, haats, bus stations, public places, educational and government institutions in coastal upazilas will be freedfrom such one-way plastic items.

Finally in the third year, all 12 districts will stop usingthe throwaway plastic.

The districts of Bagerhat, Borguna, Bhola,Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar, Khulna, Feni, Lakshipur, Noakhali, Patuakhali, Pirojpur and Satkhiraare under the plan.

“The copy of the gazette has already been sent to district offices of the Department Of Environment, and it will be easy to eliminate single-use plastic from those areas,” claimed DOE Director General Ashraf Uddin.

He, however, denied commenting on the classification of such one-way use of plastic and why the gazette did not issue any directive targeting the sources of their production.

A repeated attempt was later made to contact him over phone to know more about the plan, but he did not respond.

However, according to a study, 78 per cent of single-use plastic waste is generated in urban areas of Bangladesh while a significant portion of 22 per cent comes from rural areas.

What are single-use plastic and how do they affect health?

Drinking straws, bottles, cups, plastic cotton buds, sachets, plastic bags, surgical mask, face mask, sanitizer container, etc. fall under this category.

Due to its decomposition nature, such plastic release toxic chemicals for a long time and are now being detected in human blood. These chemicals may cause cancer, infertility, birth defects and many other ailments, according to various international studies.

Steeping a single-plastic teabag at a brewing temperature of 95°C releases approximately 11.6 billion micro plastics and 3.1 billion nanoplastics into a single cup of beverage.

High Court in action

The High Court on January 6,2020 ordered the government to ban single-use plastic items in coastal areas, hotels, motels, and restaurants across the country within a year, but no action had been taken during the period.

In this regard, there has been a writ petition filed with the High Court, said the writ petitioner organisation ESDO’s Shahriar Hossain.

“It was the duty of the Department of Environment as the implementing agency on behalf of the ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to carry out the action. But they failed to do. So, we stepped in,” he explained.

“The court also intervened as it came across the inaction on the part of the authorities concerned.”

In addition to the last year’s HC order on the ban of single-use plastic, the High Court also directed the authorities to stop the use of polythene shopping bags, but this prohibited item is widely used everywhere across the country.