In the midst of the pandemic, when businesses globally are suffering huge losses, our country’s jute export earnings are on the rise. Our raw jute and jute goods producers and exporters are getting new orders every day.
The invention of Sonali bag from jute in Bangladesh caused quite a stir at home and abroad. This bag could provide a solution to the world’s plastic waste problem that is jeopardizing environment.
Experts opine that 410 million poly-bags are used in Dhaka city only per month and only 10-15 percent of the bags are thrown into trashcans. Most of these end up in drains, sewage pipes chocking them, and open places and cause water-logging.
The government should take proper
steps to promote the use of locally
produced environment-friendly bags
The pilot project of Sonali bag was undertaken in 2017. At that time no other company in the world had the equipment or machinery needed to produce this eco-friendly bag on a large scale.
The government is talking about using jute bags instead of polythene. However, on the other hand, jute mills are slowly closing down one after another. They added that due to this, ordinary people are losing interest in using jute bags. It takes about a thousand years for a plastic bag to decay into the soil. Hence, recycling plastic waste is a big challenge for scientists.
The government should now take proper steps to promote the use of locally produced environment-friendly bags. A High Court rule was issued last year which banned the use of plastic bags from coastal areas as well as the hotels and restaurants. Therefore, this should be another instrumental factor for the government to take action and hurry the process of replacing plastic bags with locally developed environmentally friendly bags. That can be the use of jute bags as well.
