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The 15th edition of the International Plastic Fair kicked off in Dhaka yesterday with a call to ensure industry compliance so that Bangladesh can sustain its share in the global export market.
The international market for plastic goods, including the European Union (EU), is rapidly implementing environmental policies through the European Green Deal.
The European Green Deal, which was approved in 2020, is a set of policy initiatives that aim to make the EU climate neutral by 2050 with the circular economy being a defining feature.
A circular economy refers to a market that incentivises the reuse of products through repairing, refurbishing or recycling rather than scraping them for spare resources.
As a sourcing destination, Bangladesh needs to be more careful about ensuring compliance when it comes to manufacturing plastic products by building eco-friendly industries, according to speakers at the fair.
“The EU’s second circular economy action plan introduces strict policies to target environmental impacts throughout the whole value chain inside and outside the EU and other exporter countries,” said Zaki Uz Zaman, the country representative of UNIDO for Bangladesh.
“For the most part, exporter countries should be designed for circularity and they need to ensure its transparency,” he added while delivering a presentation at the opening session of the fair.
Bangladesh currently needs to import around 20 lakh tonnes of raw materials for the plastic industry each year.
Md Jashim Uddin, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), said these imports need to be reduced by establishing more linkage industries in the country.
Bangladesh is now recycling only 36 per cent of its total plastic waste with many industries still outside the recycling process.
With this backdrop, Uddin said Bangladesh is failing to handle this waste due to the lack of a proper collection system.
“We need to focus more on ensuring compliance in industries and work for awareness to protect the environment,” he added.
Uddin, also vice chairman of Bengal Group, one of the biggest plastic exporters in the country, then said producers will face trouble in the coming days if they fail to ensure industry compliance.
The FBCCI chief went on to say that many plastic businesses, some of whom do not even have trade licences, are still operating illegally in the Old Dhaka area of the capital.
“We badly need to relocate these plastic businesses to ensure compliance in a new venue,” he added.
Foreign officials, including those from Saudi Arabia’s commerce and investment ministers, are expected to attend a business summit in March as a delegation of Aramco, a petroleum refining company.
Uddin proposed building a refinery complex in association with Aramco at the industrial area in Matarbari of Cox’s Bazar.
The four-day fair was jointly organised by the Bangladesh Plastic Goods Manufacturers and Exporters Association and Yorker Trade and Marketing Service Company at the International Convention City Bashundhara.
Around 700 stalls have been set up by 494 companies from some 21 countries, including China, South Korea, Belgium, Canada, the US, UAE, France, Italy, Japan and Austria.
Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun inaugurated the fair as chief guest while Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh was present as special guest.
(TDS)
