It is disheartening to learn that Dhaka city produces 646 tonnes of plastic waste every single day, which is 468 tonnes more than 15 years back in the capital. Reportedly, in Dhaka city alone, plastic waste has gone up from 178 tonnes per day in 2005 to 646 tonnes per day in 2020.
The scale of plastic pollution has become alarming with tonnes of plastic waste existing almost everywhere posing serious threats to human and destroying nature as well. We do not know exactly how long plastic products take to degrade, but we know that once they are in our soil, rivers and oceans, it is impossible to clean up.
According to Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC), the amount of waste generated daily in the areas under the corporation is 2,210 tonnes on average. The daily generated waste in the areas under North City Corporation is about 2,855 tonnes.
We need to conduct awareness campaigns to
convince consumers to reduce their reliance on
single-use plastics
Reportedly, waste volume soars up by 18 percent every year, and polythene and plastic products cover a big part of this huge waste. Though the production and use of polythene in Bangladesh were banned nearly in 2002, polythene shopping bags still rule the market.
In order to reduce plastic pollution, we all have an essential role to play, from making small lifestyle changes such as shopping with reusable bags to raising our voices for more progressive and sustainable policies. Our voices can become an impetus behind public policy decisions.
We need to determine concrete targets and devise roadmaps for reducing avoidable plastic use. Necessary measures should be integrated to scale up plastic waste collection and reinforce recycling capacity through investment. Also. we need to conduct awareness campaigns to convince consumers to reduce their reliance on single-use plastics and encourage them to move towards healthier and more sustainable ways of living that will benefit their families and their communities.