Bangladesh Plastic Goods Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BPGMEA) and The British Standards Institution (BSI) jointly organized a seminar on "CE (Circular Economy) to Enhance the Export Possibitities of Plastic Goods" at BPGMEA office in Paltan Tower, Dhaka on Tuesday.
The Seminar was focused on addressing crucial issues and adopt strategies for export of plastic goods to the UK and Europe. Dr. Jane Gilbert, Circular Economy Expert, and British Standards Institution (BSI) presented key note paper.
BPGMEA President Shamim Ahmed presided over the event. Syed Anwar Hossain, Project Manager UK-Bangladesh Standards Partnership Initiative gave a presentation on Standards Partnership Bangladesh.
BPGMEA Senior Vice President K M Iqbai Hossain spoke at the closing of the seminar. It was conducted by BPGMEA Secretary General Narayan Chandra Dey.
Md. Saiim Ullah, Senior Assistant Secretary, Ministry of Industries, Abdur Rahman, Joint Secretary (EC4J), Ministry of Commerce, Anwar Hossain, Bengal Group of Industries, Saiahuddin Shikder, PRAN-RFL Group, BPGMEA Director and Managing Director of BPCL Khadem Mahmood Yusuf , BSTI Director Ms. Zohra Sikder, Mustain Billah from EC4, S M Arafat from UNIDO participated in the open discussion.
Apart from this Dr. Jane Gilbert, Circular Economy Expert and British Standards Institution (BSI) presented keynote paper that emphasized to promote national action plan on Circular Economy.
It said the industry needs to achieve sustainable development goals, work towards for prevention, reduction and elimination of plastic pollution; to promote sustainable production and consumption of plastics through product design and environmentally sound waste management, including through resource efficiency and circular economy approaches.
Gilbert said the industry needs a systemic transformation to achieve the circular economy goal. She further added that the global economy is now only 7.zo/o circular; and its getting worse year on year-driven by rising material extraction and use.
The plastic industry shows promise with a huge growth potential in the domestic market and opportunity to grab a share in global market. She also said after LDC Graduation in 2026 Bangladesh will have to adopt International standard for goods and services to enhance export.
BPGMEA President Shamim Ahmed said as the country develops the use of plastic will increase. To reduce the use of plastic waste we need to innovate and on the other hand we need to manage plastic properly.
He said, the industry is implementing circular economy in the country. Currently 37 percent of mismanaged plastic is being recycled in Bangladesh. The re-cycling process will be strengthened further.
