Plastic recycling can generate revenue, safeguard environment

Staff Reporter :
In a proactive move to combat the mounting environmental challenges stemming from plastic waste, industry experts and stakeholders emphasised the pivotal role of adopting a circular approach to plastic management.

The global innovation in plastic circularity not only holds the potential to generate substantial revenue but also stands as a powerful tool to safeguard the environment from further degradation, they said.

The observation came during a national seminar on ‘Innovation for Plastic Circularity in Bangladesh’ jointly organised by Bangladesh Plastic Goods manufacturers and Exporters Association (BPGMEA) and Unilever Bangladesh Limited (UBL) at a city hotel on Saturday.

The seminar aims to bring together a diverse community of leaders, industry experts, and key stakeholders passionately committed to addressing the pressing challenges surrounding plastic packaging innovation, innovative solutions, and the transition to plastic circularity.

The event was attended by Planning Minister Muhammad Abdul Mannan as the Chief Guest, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change Saber Hossain Chowdhury as Special Guest, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Vice-President of Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Md Amin Helaly.

Dr. Colin Kerr, Head of Packaging Excellence and Technology, Unilever, displayed a presentation highlighting the Unilever and Bangladesh practices of plastic uses and wastes as well as the management of it.

“Plastic pollution is a global challenge now and Bangladesh is not out of this.

With the development, the environment is also facing severe pollution.

For this we cannot kill our nature.

We need development and at the same time we have to protect the nature,” Abdul Mannan said.

“The stakeholders have talked about policy and incentive support.

These are necessary, but it needs a balance as well because we have seen some businessmen are more prone to profits,” he said.

He further said that there are numerous laws in the country but the implementation level is low and it needs concerned efforts to address all challenges.

Saber Hossain Chowdhury highlighted the necessity of a visionary policy in a bid to assess the level of pollution caused by the plastic and the timeframe to reach the goal of addressing the matter for sustainability.

“Currently 30 per cent branded industries are engaged in plastic recycling in the country.

You can bring the remaining 70 per cent into the mainstream.

Partnership between the government and the other stakeholders are important,” he said.

He invited the Unilever to come forward to set up their facility here in Bangladesh to expedite the process of plastic recycling.

Fahmida Khatun said, “We have much work in policy level for plastic population.

The population has been increased to a huge number, but we could not do the planning accordingly how to recycle the plastic in the urban areas.”

She appealed to plastic manufacturers to abstain from incorporating hazardous additives during the plastic manufacturing process because plastics containing these detrimental components, once recycled, retain these hazardous elements, posing a significant risk to individuals, particularly children.

Amin Helaly said, “We have to take plastic as a opportunity as it can generate employment and save the environment through proper management.

But still we don’t have a database about the whole management of the plastics.”

Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Unilever Bangladesh Limited Zaved Akhter said, “The plastic management is not part of a single entity.

We need integration of government, private sector and local community here.”

He said, “Plastic is not a problem but the management is a major challenge.

Currently Bangladesh is able to recycle around 30 per cent of its waste.

So, collective collaboration is needed.”

President of BPGMEA Shamim Ahmed said, “Plastic circularity is the best practice to address the plastic pollution.

More investment in waste management is necessary.

Plastic recycling can generate huge revenues and create employment.”