Bangladesh’s polythene ban falters as affordable alternatives remain out of reach

The government's initiative to stop the use of illegal polythene bags is not achieving significant success due to the lack of available and affordable alternative shopping bags.

No visible impact of the government's drives against polythene bags is seen in different kitchen markets, grocery shops and vendors, despite one month having elapsed since the ban was enforced on 1 November.

Environmental activists, ordinary people and shop owners said the government should focus on developing suitable and affordable alternatives alongside stopping the production of polythene bags and imposing barriers on the import of polythene raw materials.

"The decision to stop the use of polythene bags is the right step. But it would be tough to stop it without giving the people effective alternatives, no matter how much pressure is exerted," said Dr Lelin Chowdhury, executive president of Poribesh Bachao Andolan (Poba).

Noting that jute bags have bright potential as alternatives to polythene bags, he suggested the government make jute bags cheap and available. If needed, the government should provide subsidies to make jute bags competitive as they are bio-friendly and environment-friendly.

Regarding the government's earlier abortive effort to stop the use of polythene in the early 2000s, the environmental activist said the achievement could not be upheld as the then government failed to provide an effective alternative following the ban on polythene at that time.

He said it is not an easy task to change the long-standing habit of using polythene bags. "We'll have to give people effective alternatives to polythene bags; otherwise, this initiative would not be a complete success this time as well," said Lenin Chowdhury.

Environmental activist Prof Ahmad Kamruzzaman Majumder said when polythene bags were first banned in 2002, the people refrained from using them for some days, fearing punishment. However, they started using polythene again due to the lack of suitable alternative bags.

"This time, there is focus only on the enforcement of the ban on polythene bags. No step is noticed regarding manufacturing alternatives," he said.

Dr Majumder, the chairman of the Department of Environmental Science at Stamford University Bangladesh, said polythene bags are manufactured in some 1,000 small factories in Dhaka and outside Dhaka. So, the government needs to pay more attention to shutting down the factories and creating barriers to the import of its raw materials, he said.

The strict enforcement of laws, creating public awareness, stopping the manufacturing of polythene bags, and developing cheap alternative bags should be done simultaneously, said Dr Majumder, who is also the founder director of the Centre for Atmospheric Pollution Studies (CAPS) at the university.

Moin Uddin, a resident of West Shewrapara in the capital, was seen using four polythene bags to carry vegetables and grocery items while returning from the kitchen market in West Shewrapara on Wednesday.

Asked about the use of illegal polythene bags, he said no cheap alternative bag is available. "If the government truly wants to stop the use of polythene, it should first provide us with alternative bags and stop the production of polythene bags," he said.

Anisul Islam, a private service holder, was seen using three polythene bags to carry vegetables purchased from vendors in Mouchak on his way home on Thursday evening. He also blamed the lack of alternatives.

A vegetable vendor, Nurul Haque, at Anandabazar in Shewrapara, said if polythene bags are not provided to buyers, his sales would drastically decline as customers might switch to other stalls.

"If the government could stop the use of polythene bags, my income would increase. I wouldn't need to spend Tk 130-150 on buying polythene bags daily," he said, adding that some 170-200 polythene bags are required for his shop every day.

Shafiqul Islam, a grocery shop owner in West Shewrapara, also criticised the government for enforcing the ban without developing alternative bags.

"If I don't provide polythene bags, the buyers won't purchase from my shop," he said, adding that some 250-300 polythene bags are required for his daily sales.

The grocery owner, however, supported the idea of eliminating polythene bags from the market and called for stricter measures to stop their production.

"The habit of buyers should change first. If suitable alternative bags are available, then the use of polythene bags could be stopped," he said.

Among the leading contributing causes of the overuse of disposable products, including bags, bottles, straws, and packaging materials, is the failure to recycle them, which eventually find their way into landfills, water bodies, and the natural environment.

Unregulated Production of Plastic Products

Plastic industries also contribute considerably to the growing mismanaged plastic waste in Bangladesh. There are about 5,000 plastic manufacturers operating in Bangladesh, employing about 1.2 million individuals (BIDA, 2021).

Bangladesh's annual per capita plastic consumption in urban areas tripled to 9.0 kg in 2020 from 3.0 kg in 2005. Consumption of LDPE packaging materials (plastic bags, etc.) increased fivefold in 2020 from 2005. Of the 977,000 tonnes of plastic consumed in 2020, only 31 percent was recycled.

Top 10 plastic pollution hotspots:

• China: 2.8 million tonnes per year

• Pakistan: 2.6 million tonnes per year

• Bangladesh: 1.7 million tonnes per year

• Russia: 1.7 million tonnes per year

• Brazil: 1.4 million tonnes per year

• Thailand: 1.0 million tonnes per year

• Democratic Republic of the Congo: 1.0 million tonnes per year