'Eco-clubs' formed with student members in Cox's Bazar to reduce plastic pollution

"Eco-clubs" were formed with students from ten educational institutions in Cox's Bazar with the aim of raising awareness and reducing the use of plastic products.

The government's Department of Environment is implementing the programme through a plastic credit model in the institutions – under the project "Integrated Approach Towards Sustainable Plastic Use and Marine Litter Prevention in Bangladesh", financed by the Norwegian government, with technical assistance of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).

A seminar was organised in a hotel of Cox's Bazar on Saturday (11 May), reads a press release.

Nazma Ashrafi, deputy secretary of the Ministry of Forest Environment and Climate Change said, "We are working to build a pollution-free, smart Bangladesh, and for that purpose, students have been involved in this initiative" In the speech of the key speaker.

UNIDO's Bangladesh Representative Zaki Uz Zaman said, "A UNIDO expert team developed the plastic credit model after visiting schools in Cox's Bazar."

He also said the eco-clubs established through this model will collect plastic waste and sell it in the market and their activities will be managed with the money earned.

In the first phase, apart from providing training to the students, the clubs were provided with the necessary equipment for plastic waste management.

Cox's Bazar Municipality Chief Executive Officer AKM Tariqul Alam, Bangladesh Oceanographic Research Institute's Principal Scientific Officer Hasibul Islam, Petrochemical Company Limited's Representative Safir Khan, Cox's Bazar Environment Department's Deputy Director Nurul Islam and many others spoke as guests at the seminar.

In the end, financial assistance through a private organisation was provided to the club representatives.