Monday | 7 October 2024 | Reg No- 06
বাংলা
   
Monday | 7 October 2024 | Epaper

Plastic use needs extensive control

All of us should stand out to implement the ban

Published : Monday, 11 January, 2021 at 12:00 AM  Count : 591
ZUBAIR KHALED HUQ
Polythene bags have staged a big comeback, having harmful effects on environment, despite a government ban on their use in the country. The use of the bags has recently increased due to availability, cheap prices and lax monitoring. Jute and net bags are not used much as polythene bags are available at shops. Shopkeepers, especially vegetable vendors, provide polythene bags to customers for free. There is increasing evidence that even though a small percentage of bags are littered and then broken up into smaller and smaller pieces they have a devastating impact on environment. This includes so-called 'biodegradable' bags, which are just as dangerous in the marine environment.      

Plastic bags are non-biodegradable and are extremely hazardous to environment. They are the major constituent of the filth and garbage in our society. Furthermore, plastic bags block drains and release toxic fumes when burned. The government did impose a ban on the use of plastic bags but still, its use is rampant. This however should not dissuade the government from taking another step. Jute bags are slowly becoming the vogue. The authority concerned can show advertisements on television, showing benefits of not using plastic bags. Encouraging the use of paper, jute bags can have a positive impact on environment.

The reality is that despite continuous awareness initiatives and campaigns, the production of plastic has not been reduced. It is quite disappointing that plastic products once used eventually end up in landfills, drains, rivers, canals, water reservoirs. Recently a picture published on daily observer showed the amount of litter made of plastic bottles is polluting the St Martin's Island, and it is increasing very quickly. Its usage needs extensive control and only with improved awareness among people, this goal can be achieved. As plastic in multiple forms has become very much part of everyday life, school-going children are the worst affected by its extensive usage. Prolonged use of one time plastic products can cause various cancers.        

Most children carry their meals in plastic containers; though some of them are marked 'reusable' or 'microwaveable', the dangers is still hiding in them because of the poor quality of raw materials. The ideal place to start with is the early learning centres so that it influences the young minds. At any cost, we must try to reduce the usage of plastic products. Especially the coloured plastics are more dangerous.     

Many governments all over the world have taken action to ban the sale of lightweight single-use plastic bags. The Bangladesh government was the first to do so, imposing a total ban on it. However, Bangladesh is still struggling with the issue of plastic bags and enforcing the ban. Mobile court's activities are also very limited in this regard. However bigger fines should be enforced to encourage the ban.

The majority of plastic winds up in landfills where it remains indefinitely. No one exactly knows how long plastic takes to break down, but it is believed to take hundreds or even thousands of years. It is not just the accumulation of plastics that harms the environment; it is also the fragments and toxins released during photo-decomposition that pollute our soil and water. Starting from a pen to a polythene bag in which we carry fruits and books are forms of plastic. Though convenient in our day to day use, it has posed an alarming threat to the environment. Plastic is non-biodegradable and does not decay by the biological actions of microbes.       

They remain in the same state as we throw them. So, dumps or garbage are created making our cities and soil polluted. To destroy plastics, we can either recycle or burn them. If we burn plastic, they emit harmful chemical gases. These gases pollute our environment, though, in negligible content, they add to the greenhouse effect and endanger our environment. The wastes of plastic block pipes and sanitary lines so that dirty water came out on roads.  We are seeing water logging in different parts of Dhaka city. Flood water is inundating low lying areas, if this practice of throwing non-degradable products to the streets goes on, all drainage systems will clog.

Every person has the uncanny habit of throwing litters here and there. The wastes of plastic bags, bottles are drawn to a sea or an ocean by rivers and they are deposited in them. They pollute and disturb the eco-system of the sea or the ocean. We have seen the Buriganga river-bed rising, submerging adjacent areas with very little rain. Already our drainage system is getting bogged down. Low lands around Dhaka city are already filled up. Rivers are being filled up too. Land grabbers are dumping garbage in the rivers. Different governmental bodies are vigilant, trying to stop and taking the grabbers under the purview of the law.

Due to wide-scale use of plastic, water, soil and air pollution, these polluted components of the environment lead to an imbalance of ecosystems of the Earth. The only solution to this plastic hazard is to take preventive measures. And to reduce the use of plastic we should increase the use of recyclable bags and other alternatives. To recycle the used plastic, we should not throw used plastic here and there rather collect it and then recycle them. Only recyclable plastics should be allowed to be used. Availability of jute, paper bags, and containers can replace the non-degradable polythene and plastic.        

Plastic pollution is a growing problem in Bangladesh. Our major cities are, particularly at great risk. In the last few years, production and consumption of diversified plastic products have been extended from households to industrial purposes. That means the range of plastic waste has also increased. Though Bangladesh was the first country to ban plastic bags, there are no specific laws, rules or guidelines for plastic waste management. As a result, soil, water, air, and environment of Bangladesh are being severely polluted, and we are already feeling the effects.            

Infested by plastic particles, arable soil is becoming barren and crops and fruits are becoming contaminated. Local water bodies and marine life in the Bangladesh coast are in danger and local and sea fishes are facing threats; air is polluted with dangerous chemicals that lead to respiratory problems. Children are the most vulnerable group for such pollution.

A strong commitment and will at the policy making level, appropriate planning, proper policy advocacy and regulation, strict monitoring and a holistic approach from the sustainable waste management point of view is needed. Along with government environmental bodies, all of us should stand out to implement the ban on the use of plastic.
Dr Zubair Khaled Huq is a
Family Medicine, Gerontology,
Public Health Specialist




LATEST NEWS
MOST READ
Also read
Banning outdoor New Year parties
BAC in higher education in Bangladesh
It's time to end the bloodshed in Yemen
Plastic waste threatens environment and biodiversity
Fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory export control is an important guarantee for globalization
Rapists still having a field day in Bangladesh
Int’l cooperation with BRI
Olaf Scholz: Agenda of Germany’s new leader
Editor : Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury
Published by the Editor on behalf of the Observer Ltd. from Globe Printers, 24/A, New Eskaton Road, Ramna, Dhaka.
Editorial, News and Commercial Offices : Aziz Bhaban (2nd floor), 93, Motijheel C/A, Dhaka-1000.
Phone: PABX- 41053001-06; Online: 41053014; Advertisement: 41053012.
E-mail: info©dailyobserverbd.com, news©dailyobserverbd.com, advertisement©dailyobserverbd.com, For Online Edition: mailobserverbd©gmail.com
🔝