Public awareness is essential to beat plastic pollution

Dr Matiur Rahman :

Plastic has become an essential part of our daily life. People worldwide buy about a million plastic bottles every minute and use a billion plastic bags every hour. Despite the undeniable social benefits of plastic, it poses a severe threat to our environment. Plastic waste is increasing rapidly and making the situation more complicated. It has already put ecosystems, human health, fauna and the Earth’s climate system under serious threat.
Around the world, an estimated 19-23 million tons of plastic waste ends up in lakes, rivers, oceans and seas every year, which is equivalent to the weight of about 2,200 Eiffel Towers. Note that the total weight of the Eiffel Tower is 10,100 tons.
According to the Center for International Environmental Law, plastics also affect Earth’s atmosphere. About 98 per cent of all plastic products are produced using fossil fuels that emit greenhouse gases, a significant cause of the global climate crisis.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reports that plastics account for 3.4 per cent of the world’s carbon budget, projected to increase fivefold over the next twenty years.
Plastic production is growing in Bangladesh, and the industry is essential to the country’s overall economic growth. Plastics is the 12th highest foreign export trade earnings source widely used in our apparel, healthcare and automotive industries.
According to Bangladesh Investment Development Authority data, there are 5,000 plastic manufacturing factories in Bangladesh, and 98 per cent are small and medium factories. About 1.2 million people have been employed in these factories.
Bangladesh’s plastic products are becoming popular in both local and global markets. Bangladesh expects to earn USD 115.10 billion from plastic exports by the end of 2023 if the current trend of plastic production continues.
A World Bank report says that in the past 15 years, annual per capita plastic use in urban Bangladesh has tripled from 3 kg in 2005 to 9 kg in 2020. Annual per capita plastic consumption in Dhaka alone has reached 22.25 kg. The number is more than three times the national average for urban areas. Daily plastic waste in Dhaka increased from 178 tons to 646 tons between 2005 and 2020. Only 37.2 per cent of Dhaka’s plastic waste is recycled.
Sustainable plastic waste management is a growing concern in Bangladesh, challenging our overall growth and development. Around 3,000 tons of plastic waste is generated in the country every day, and around 14 million pieces of polythene bags are used simultaneously in Dhaka city alone. Most of the used plastic products are thrown away after their first use, and due to mismanagement, they remain untreated in roads, drains, canals, rivers and roadside open spaces.
Bangladesh is suffering from the mismanagement of plastic waste. Plastic products never fully decompose but disperse in particulate form. Tiny particles travel very short distances to enter the human body and can cause serious health risks. On the other hand, toxic gases and particles generated from burning plastic materials enter the body through human breathing and cause severe diseases, including cancer.
Plastic waste destroys drainage systems, creating runoff that is one of the reasons for creating breeding grounds for mosquitoes that cause vector-borne diseases like dengue. Also, plastic pollution is mainly responsible for chikungunya outbreaks, cholera, diarrhea and malaria.
In this context, sustainable management of plastics is essential to tackle increasing plastic pollution and ensure green growth. In a report titled “Towards a Multisectoral Action Plan for Sustainable Plastic Management in Bangladesh”, the World Bank mentioned that Bangladesh had undertaken a multispectral action plan for sustainable plastic management, which includes short-term, mid-term and long-term plans to combat plastic pollution.
Plastic products have indeed made people’s lives easier, but at the same time, plastic mismanagement has led us to a situation where our planetary system faces chronic environmental impacts. So, we should be aware from now on.

(The writer is a researcher and development worker).