How jute, Bangladesh's 'golden thread', could replace plastic
Jute emerges as a green alternative to plastic.
Plastic is a victim of its own success. It may not break as you carry your groceries, however this utility is the same reason that plastic finds its way onto the corals, coastlines and beaches of countries like mine.
Years of efforts to curtail plastic usage and production have so far failed, leaving the world on course to triple its plastic output by 2060. While diplomats are due to meet in Thailand's capital to try and revive a global plastics treaty, with plastic pollution maintaining its spot as a key theme at this year's COP31, no amount of target-setting and regulation will make hundreds of billions of bags disappear.
The reason is quite simple. An alternative that performs the same job at the same low cost is yet to be produced at scale.
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So, what could replace the plastic bag? The answer could lie in jute, or "Bangladesh's Golden thread". When processed, this material behaves like its fossil-fuel based incumbent, without the environmental implications. It could be used across textiles, packaging, construction, agriculture and even fashion.
Unlike plastic, growing and producing jute is carbon-negative. One study found that one hectare of jute absorbs up to 15 tons of CO2, and releases 11 tons of oxygen during the growing season. It can also biodegrade in as little as three months.
Using the crop, a Bangladeshi scientist invented a bag that behaves like a plastic bag at the checkout counter and like a plant in the compost heap.
Equally, growing jute doesn't compete with food crops like wheat or maize, as it is suited to flood-prone and degraded land. When jute grows, its crop sheds its leaves, which boosts the organic content and the health of the soil.
This can also prevent flood and drought risk as the healthy soils operate like a sponge, absorbing and storing more water than degraded land. What's more, growing jute doesn't rely on pesticides and herbicides in the same way that cotton or wheat does.
Jute has been grown in Bangladesh for over 200 years, and was once our primary export. Yet this is more than a nostalgic heritage industry. It has the potential to not only replace the infamous plastic bag, but the plastics and geotextiles used in the automotive, industrial and agricultural industries.
Bangladesh is not the only jute producer. Others include India, Kenya, Sudan, Nepal, Uganda, Vietnam and Cambodia. Demand is growing too; Bangladesh's jute and jute goods showed 22.26% cumulative growth between July and August in 2026. The European Union has expressed interest in sourcing alternative materials for packaging as it increasingly restricts single-use plastics. After the United Arab Emirate's ban on single-use plastic in January 2026, the nations are actively seeking alternative materials.
Scaling the global jute industry, especially in the Global South, still faces structural blockages. For example, the EU's Packaging Waste Regulation, in force from 2026, requires EN 13432 certification before any product can be marketed as biodegradable or compostable on European shelves.
Building certification capacity within Bangladesh, ideally with European technical partners, would let our exporters meet these standards.
The same is true of other jute-growing nations. A shared, Global South-led institute could help to amplify the certification and traceability process. Such a certification body could help grant jute-growing nations access to valuable markets like the EU.
It's much harder for smaller, less industrialised nations to have leverage in negotiations with European or American buyers. However, a co-ordinated bloc could negotiate tariffs and certification requirements with far greater coordination.
Finally, investment needs to scale. Much of our most promising jute innovations are still produced at pilot or semi-commercial volumes. Take for example Jutin, a lightweight, heat-insulating, rust proof building material made by layering jute fibre with resin. Jute can be turned into geotextiles that help to control erosion, or even turned into a jute-viscose blend that can be used to make clothes.
The blockage to scaling these innovations remains access to the capital to produce mid-scale processing plants. Development bank blended finance for industrial capacity could help to drive jute production at the scale we need.
If diplomats meeting at COP31 are serious about eliminating plastic from our oceans, beaches and bloodstreams, we must create the conditions needed to replace it with something better.
Given the right support from regulators, investors and consumers, jute-growing nations some of whom bear the biggest environmental impacts of plastic pollution, can help to finally make plastic history.
Disclaimer
This Report was published on Reuters. Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias. Ethical Corporation Magazine, a part of Reuters Professional, is owned by Thomson Reuters and operates independently of Reuters News.Nations like mine already have the crop, the soil conditions and the workforce to export jute at scale. Along with the industrial base, we also need the willingness from buyer nations to treat jute as a serious competitor to single-use plastic.
Shama Obaed Islam is the State Minister for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangladesh. She is the incumbent Jatiya Sangsad member representing the Faridpur-2 constituency and has been the incumbent state minister of foreign affairs since February 2026.
