Plastic rules amid lax compliance
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criticised the lack of enforcement, saying, “While many are aware of the environmental harm caused by plastic, there has been little commitment from past governments to enforce this law.”
Khan believes proper implementing the law could revive the jute industry, benefit millions of jute farmers and the environment.
He said the government should make jute bags mandatory in all rice mills, with license cancellation penalty for non-compliance.
In the meanwhile, a senior official of at a major food importing and processing firm doubted the country’s ability to meet the demand for jute sacks.
The official at the food import firm said plastic packaging remains a more practical option due to its lower cost and durability.
In 2012, a writ petition was filed with the High Court. The court issued a stay order, allowing the continued use of plastic bags.
Visiting several kitchen markets in Dhaka’s Mirpur, Mohammadpur and Karwan Bazar recently, this correspondent found that plastic sacks were being widely used for rice packaging.
AKM Khorshed Alam, president of the Bangladesh Auto Rice Mill Owners Association, said a few traders currently use jute sacks.
He said the past government did not take stringent measures to implement the law.
The Daily Star approached local major conglomerates including Akij, ACI and Rashid Agro-Food Products Ltd for comment on jute packaging for their rice brands. But they were not available for comment on this topic.
Abdur Rauf, secretary of the Ministry of Textiles and Jute, acknowledged that the law has not been enforced over the past decade but expressed hope that the situation would change with greater political will.
He said that efforts are now on, starting with supershops, and a meeting with jute sector stakeholders was held last Tuesday where a decision to supply jute bags quickly to meet demand was taken.
Syeda Rizwana Hasan, adviser to the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, at an event yesterday said that initiatives will be taken to make widespread use of jute packaging through the proper implementation of the law.
“Our ministry will provide all types of policy support to businesspeople to increase the use of jute products,” said Rizwana, also an environmental activist and prominent enviromental lawyer.
Textiles and Jute Adviser Brigadier General (Retd) M Sakhawat Hossain at the same event said initiatives will be taken first to ensure the use of jute sacks of paddy, rice and wheat.
Khondaker Golam Moazzem, research director of local think tank Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), said the past government could not fully implement the law due to various operational weaknesses.
However, the current adviser to the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has been working on this issue for a long time. “I hope she will take appropriate initiatives to fully implement this law.”
Golam Moazzem said local jute mills probably do not have the capacity to meet the demand. “That is why, we need to be prepared first before the implementation.”
Another thing is, he said, it will be easier to implement the law if it goes to priority basis, instead of full implementation for all products.