Combating Plastic Pollution and Climate Change
PARVEZ BABUL
I was traveling to Barisal, a southern coastal district in Bangladesh, 180 kilometers away from the capital city Dhaka. I was a member of a foreign three-member delegation team of Bread for the World https://www.bread.org/ , an America-based international voluntary organization. Our purpose of field visit was to make a documentary of successful poor women beneficiaries of homestead food production project at the local villages as part of the climate change adaptation and women empowerment. A pilot project of Nature-based sustainable solutions to climate change adaptation, and it was working excellent. My role was to cover the issues in our newspaper and to interpret the language from Bangla to English and English to Bangla of the women project beneficiaries and the delegation.
We were traveling by a water vessel/ launch from Dhaka launch terminal Sodorghat to Barisal. That was not an enjoyable launch trip, because while we were crossing the big river Burigonga — we observed the poisonous polluted water that was life-threatening for the people. Plastics and other elements contaminated the river and made it unusable. It was as the phrase as the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote in his poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner: “Water water everywhere, but not a drop to drink!”
So the plastic pollution, climate change, air pollution, soil pollution and other issues were in our table of discussion during the gloomy journey.
STATE OF PLASTIC POLLUTION IN BANGALDESH
Several national and international seminars, conference and round table discussions that were held in recent years, and different research and studies show that Dhaka is one of the top cities in the world with the worst air quality. A new study by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) last week revealed that air pollution kills 102,456 people in Bangladesh every year. Mismanaging and burning plastic waste is one of the main reasons behind it. https://energyandcleanair.org/publication/public-health-impacts-of-fine-particle-air-pollution-in-bangladesh/
Lack of awareness has led to the collection of plastic waste all over the cities. It is especially near rivers or lakes, where they mix with water and soil, affecting ecosystems and food chains.
The World Bank shared a report in 2021 mentioned that the last 15 years, Bangladesh’s annual per capita plastic consumption in urban areas tripled to nine kg in 2020 from three kg in 2005. COVID-19 pandemic has worsened plastic pollution https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2021/12/23/meeting-bangladesh-s-plastic-challenge-through-a-multisectoral-approach
The COVID-19 crisis has only exacerbated conditions, especially from single-use plastic used in masks, gloves, and Personal Protective Equipment.
A large part of the plastic waste is dumped in landfills, water bodies, and rivers. With rapid growth and urbanization, Bangladesh faced a sharp increase in both plastic use and pollution. Mismanaged plastic wastes are polluting cities, countryside, rivers, and canals. They clog drains, causing urban flooding.
Dhaka faces higher plastic pollution than other cities. The capital Dhaka’s annual per capita plastic consumption is more than three times the national average for urban areas and stands at 22.25 kg. About 646 tons of plastic waste is collected daily in Dhaka, which is 10 percent of all wastes generated in Bangladesh. Only 37.2 percent of the plastic waste in Dhaka is recycled. Bangladesh is one of the top plastic polluted countries due to mismanagement of plastic waste.
Center for Policy Dialogue, a think tank in Bangladesh highlighted that the production of plastic products needs to be minimized as recycling alone is not sufficient to tackle plastic pollution. City corporations bear a substantial amount of the clean-up cost due to indiscriminate disposal of single-use plastic products. In Bangladesh, there is a potential to create a circular market for single-use plastic products if there is a proper network between waste collectors or local recycling shops and plastic manufacturers.
Plastic waste, regardless of its source, inevitably ends up in the ocean and there will be more plastics than fish in the ocean https://www.theigc.org/sites/default/files/2023-11/Wrapped-in-Plastic-The-State-of-Plastic-Pollution-in-Bangladesh.pdf
In this circumstance, sustainable management of plastic will be crucial for Bangladesh to tackle the increasing plastic pollution and ensure green growth. Focusing on circular use of plastic adopting a 3R strategy: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle can help Bangladesh beat plastic pollution.
A close and coordinated approach will be important to attain the targets, and for which, it will be critical to identify policy and regulatory reforms, economic instruments, technology and infrastructure, and capacity building. So will be awareness generation and behavioral change communication.
PLASTIC POLLUTION AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Bangladesh to lose $570m every year due to climate change. Plastics generated 1.8 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in 2019 that’s 3.4 per cent of the world’s total emissions, a number that is set to grow considerably as the production of plastics is expected to triple by 2060.
Plastic pollution can alter habitats and natural processes, reducing ecosystems’ ability to adapt to climate change, directly affecting millions of people’s livelihoods, food production capabilities and social well-being.
The overall scenario of the country paints a more alarming landscape. The piling up of plastic waste is a worrisome development as it can have severe environmental consequences. This certainly contributes to the increasing temperature, which in turn can facilitate plastic waste in generating more harmful gases, including ethylene and methane, which can further push the temperature higher, creating a nightmarish cycle of destruction.
PLASTIC POLLUTION: A GLOBAL CHALLENGE
The Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) of the Philippines discusses about People, Power, and Politics: Unlocking Progress in the Plastics Treaty Negotiations. And further narrated that Global Plastics Treaty: Less Plastic, More Life.
GAIA informed in its website that plastic is a growing crisis with devastating impacts on the environment, human health, human rights, environmental justice, rights of Indigenous Peoples, biodiversity, and climate. Global actions to address this crisis are urgently needed. As numerous studies have demonstrated, plastic has been found everywhere, not only in ecosystems and the atmosphere but also in the food we eat, the water we drink, and even inside our bodies. For the Global Plastics Treaty to be effective in reversing the tide of plastic pollution, mechanisms and solutions to address it need to exist within climate and planetary boundaries. https://www.no-burn.org/unea-plastics-treaty/
World Health Organization (WHO) expressed its concern that the potential impacts of plastics on health have become an issue of global concern due to risks and harms from plastics at each stage of their lifecycle. Many gaps remain in the current scientific knowledge of the health impacts of different types of plastics, chemicals and additives and their breakdown in the environment, however there is increasing public awareness and overwhelming consensus amongst all stakeholders that plastics do not belong in the environment and measures should be taken to mitigate exposure to microplastics and harmful chemicals released during plastics manufacture, use and disposal. https://www.who.int/news-room/events/detail/2023/11/08/default-calendar/who-health-dialogue–plastics-in-health-care
World Economic Forum mentioned in its report in 2025 that the Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP) marks a pivotal milestone in the fight against plastic pollution and solidifies GPAP as the largest global initiative dedicated to tackling its root causes and advancing a circular plastics economy worldwide. The growing community will continue to drive systemic solutions to key challenges such as advancing sustainable materials, strengthening recycling systems, tackling greenhouse gas emissions, and more.
These have already mobilized $3.1 billion in investments, created safer jobs for informal waste workers and supported countries in achieving measurable progress on sustainability and climate resilience.
Clemence Schmid, director of GPAP, World Economic Forum said, “Reaching this 25-nation milestone is not just a celebration of numbers, it’s a testament to the growing global determination to tackle one of the world’s most pressing challenges. These partnerships are not just symbolic, they represent concrete commitments to rethinking how plastics are produced, managed and reused. Together we are charting a path towards a circular plastics economy that benefits people and planet.”
Plastic pollution is also a significant contributor to climate change, responsible for an estimated 1.8 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually. Landfill emissions such as methane – over 80 times more potent than CO₂ in the short term – can be drastically reduced through GPAP’s systemic approach to waste management.
Moreover, much of the world’s plastic pollution is generated by single-use products such as bottles, caps, cigarettes, shopping bags, cups, and straws. Pollution sources are mainly land-based, coming from urban and storm water runoff, littering, industrial activities, tyre abrasion, construction, and agriculture.
The 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP) 29 of UNFCCC in Baku, Azerbaijan in November 2024 explored how to address plastic pollution and climate change. The conference gave emphasize on effective partnerships to address plastic pollution.
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) #12 of the United Nations initiatives to reduce the production and consumption of plastics by 2030. Experts and environmentalist observed that the states must work together through national, regional and global partnership sharing knowledge and experience to combat plastic pollution and climate change.
About the author: Parvez Babul is an award-winning, over twenty years of working experience as environment, climate change and health journalist; poet, author, story teller and activist based in Bangladesh. He participated at the Conference of the Parties (COP) 22 0f UNFCCC in Morocco, 2016 and covered the event. He is a Media Fellow of different international organizations include IDRC Canada; ICIMOD Nepal; GAIA Philippines; IMPRI and Asia Foundation, India; PANOS South Asia, Nepal and others. Email: parvezbabul@gmail.com