Who should pay for plastic pollution?

In 2002, Bangladesh became the first country in the world to ban polythene shopping bags. More than two decades on, plastic waste still clogs our drains, fouls our rivers, contaminates farmland and endangers public health.

Laws and awareness campaigns have not turned the tide. Why? Is the fault simply with careless consumers, or does it lie deeper in how plastic is produced, marketed, used and discarded?

These questions run through Life and Nature in the Cycle of Plastic Pollution, published in February 2025 by the GrambanglaUnnayan Committee.

Seven contributors, led by the organisation’s Executive Director AKM Maksud, have produced a 35-chapter volume covering plastic production, trade, consumption, environmental damage, health risks and policy options.

Its chief merit is to treat plastic pollution not only as an environmental problem but as an economic, social and institutional one.

The industry’s economic weight is undeniable. The book puts the global plastic products market at about US$570 billion.

At home, the market is estimated at Tk 400 billion, supported by more than 5,000 factories, including around 250 export-oriented enterprises, and employing roughly 1.2 million people.

The Plastic Industry Development Policy 2023 sets ambitious goals for growth, market expansion and jobs.

Yet growth cannot be pursued while ignoring its costs. Plastic creates jobs and feeds industrial development, but careless use and poor disposal leave society to pay the bill. The task is to reconcile industry with sustainability, not to treat them as rivals.

The evidence of rising consumption is troubling. Urban per capita plastic use reportedly climbed from three kilograms in 2005 to nine kilograms in 2020. Over the same period, Dhaka’s daily plastic waste grew from 178 tonnes to 646 tonnes.

Only about 37 per cent of the capital’s plastic waste is recycled, while roughly 87 per cent of plastic waste nationwide escapes proper management, according to research cited in the book.

These numbers expose a basic flaw in our development path. Production and consumption are racing ahead of our ability to collect, sort, recycle and safely dispose of waste.

Manufacturers, traders and consumers enjoy the immediate benefits, while communities and future generations absorb the long-term damage.

The book’s treatment of health and environmental harm is especially relevant. Plastic waste chokes urban drains, worsens waterlogging, pollutes rivers and degrades farmland. Microplastics are entering aquatic ecosystems and the food chain, raising concerns about human exposure and long-term health effects.

The attention paid to occupational risks faced by factory workers adds a vital human dimension. Industrial progress must not come at the expense of workers’ safety.

Two chapters deserve particular attention. The first looks at informal waste collectors, whose role in recycling goes largely unrecognised. An estimated 400,000 of them recover large quantities of reusable material, yet many work without formal status, social protection or adequate safety.

Treating them as essential partners rather than marginal workers would improve their lives and strengthen the recycling system.

The second addresses greenwashing, in which companies use misleading environmental claims to appear responsible. The book rightly rejects the idea that cleaning rivers and oceans can solve the crisis.

Removing waste after it has escaped is far less effective than stopping it at the source. Unless manufacturers and brand owners answer for the whole life cycle of their products, clean-up drives will remain limited gestures.

This brings us to the central question: who should bear responsibility? Consumers must cut unnecessary plastic use and dispose of waste properly. But the burden cannot rest on individuals alone. Manufacturers decide product design and packaging, businesses shape buying habits, and public institutions govern production and disposal. Every one of these actors must be held to account.

The book proposes restricting single-use plastics and styrofoam, introducing deposit-return schemes, adopting Extended Producer Responsibility, which makes producers answerable for the waste their products create, requiring corporate transparency about plastic use, and extending social protection to informal waste collectors. These proposals merit serious consideration.

Our experience with the polythene ban shows that law alone does not protect the environment. Weak enforcement, poor monitoring, failures of coordination among agencies and a shortage of affordable alternatives undermined earlier efforts.

Effective implementation needs clear institutional responsibilities, regular monitoring, real penalties for violations and genuine public participation.

Small and medium-sized manufacturers, meanwhile, deserve financial and technical help to adopt cleaner methods. An abrupt transition, without affordable technology, credit and alternative markets, could destroy jobs and small businesses. A gradual but accountable shift would be both more practical and fairer.

The book is not without flaws. More original field research and locally gathered evidence would have strengthened several sections. Some statistics need clearer sources and dates. Future editions could also offer fuller analysis of international plastic pollution agreements and of Bangladesh’s progress in meeting them.

Even so, it is a timely and valuable contribution to public debate. Its strength lies in linking environmental damage with economic priorities, corporate responsibility, public health and social justice. Policymakers, business leaders, development practitioners, activists, researchers, journalists and students will all find it useful.

Plastic is now woven into modern life, but convenience cannot excuse unchecked production and consumption. A nation’s progress should not be judged by industrial output, market size or job numbers alone. It must also be measured by the health of its people, the condition of its environment and the rights of those yet to be born.

Controlling plastic pollution will take more than individual awareness. It calls for responsible production, corporate accountability, firm and consistent regulation, better waste management and a steady move towards sustainable alternatives. Government must enforce the rules it makes, industry must accept the costs it creates, and citizens must do their part.

The book’s message is clear: those who profit from plastic must share responsibility for the damage it causes. Bangladesh led the world in 2002 with its ban on polythene bags. It now needs the same courage to ensure that the polluter, not the public, finally pays the price.

(The writer is a researcher and development professional)