A MEDIA report published in a national daily on Friday said 1.2 million tonnes of toxic plastic waste was imported in Bangladesh in three years since 2017, ignoring a legal ban on such import. Some dishonest traders illegally imported those waste and mostly dumped the cargo in landfills or transported the same to a third country. The toxic plastic waste was shipped from the USA and the UK where their disposal on land or sea is illegal and punishable. A section of traders imported the waste under the cover of plastic raw material for manufacturing industries but it is poising a big threat to the environment and public health.
It needs no mention that importers made handsome gains for handling such waste, a local body ‘Environment and Social Development Organization (ESDO), made the disclosure on Thursday. Commerce ministry sources however said they are not aware of such imports since it was banned. But evidence showed traders illegally imported such waste which include single-use plastic items, medical plastic waste and other used plastic items. These toxic wastes are always making the environment polluted and causing untimely death to many.
In Dhaka city alone there are over 1,083 illegal places of dumping plastic debris as the city is producing 33,612 tonnes of waste yearly and 30 per cent of it is directly discharged into water. Bangladesh plastic goods manufacturers sources said they imported 14,09,094 million tonnes of raw materials during fiscal 2018-2019 and one can only guess how much of it may have toxic waste.
It is not difficult for toxic wastes to enter the country at a time when our corrupt government system is pliant to illegal imports and our customs can be easily bribed to evade proper check. In fact such waste is entering the country as powerful parties have their hands behind it.
The report said Malaysia sent back a shipment of 150 containers, from 13 countries including Bangladesh, as they were carrying non-recyclable plastic waste. Available information shows Bangladesh produces, 3,000 tonnes of plastic waste every day on an average and around 73,000 tonnes of it are ending up in the sea through major rivers making our waterways most polluted in the world. We would say such toxic waste import must be stopped and perpetrators of the crime given exemplary punishment.
It needs no mention that importers made handsome gains for handling such waste, a local body ‘Environment and Social Development Organization (ESDO), made the disclosure on Thursday. Commerce ministry sources however said they are not aware of such imports since it was banned. But evidence showed traders illegally imported such waste which include single-use plastic items, medical plastic waste and other used plastic items. These toxic wastes are always making the environment polluted and causing untimely death to many.
In Dhaka city alone there are over 1,083 illegal places of dumping plastic debris as the city is producing 33,612 tonnes of waste yearly and 30 per cent of it is directly discharged into water. Bangladesh plastic goods manufacturers sources said they imported 14,09,094 million tonnes of raw materials during fiscal 2018-2019 and one can only guess how much of it may have toxic waste.
It is not difficult for toxic wastes to enter the country at a time when our corrupt government system is pliant to illegal imports and our customs can be easily bribed to evade proper check. In fact such waste is entering the country as powerful parties have their hands behind it.
The report said Malaysia sent back a shipment of 150 containers, from 13 countries including Bangladesh, as they were carrying non-recyclable plastic waste. Available information shows Bangladesh produces, 3,000 tonnes of plastic waste every day on an average and around 73,000 tonnes of it are ending up in the sea through major rivers making our waterways most polluted in the world. We would say such toxic waste import must be stopped and perpetrators of the crime given exemplary punishment.
