On August 13, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change published the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Guidelines on Plastic Waste Management, 2026.

A shampoo sachet used to be the manufacturer’s problem only until it left the shop. Once a customer bought it, the company’s responsibility effectively ended. The empty sachet then went into a bin, a drain or simply onto the street, with no clear obligation on the maker to deal with what happened next.

Plastics are silently piling on the environmental miseries of Bangladesh, one of the most climate change-vulnerable countries in the world.

Responsible plastic use involves using it for a long time before it is recycled or discarded.

Only 36 per cent of the 8.25 lakh tonnes of plastic waste Bangladesh produced in 2019 were recycled whereas the amount was 51 per cent in 2006, a matter of big concern for the country, an expert said today.