Plastic policy suggests national council

The government has drafted a plastic and packaging policy with some provisions that include the formation of a national council and a specific timeframe for implementing it.

Besides, the policy stresses that the domestic industry achieves competitiveness in manufacturing, sales of plastic and packaging products, and building technically-skilled human resources and tax exemption.

The Ministry of Industries has prepared the draft 'National Plastic and Packaging Industry Development Policy 2019' with short and long-term action plans for the development of the growing sector.

"We've prepared a draft national plastic and packaging industry development policy to help the sector thrive," a high official of the ministry, who is involved with the process, told the FE last week.

He said one of the core objectives of the policy is to ensure a sustained 25 percent growth of this sector while nixing plastic waste by 2030.

Besides, the policy suggested the sector generates 0.5 million employment opportunities and boost plastic's contribution to the gross domestic product, GDP, by at least two percent by 2026. The goals of the policy are to increase investment in the plastics and packaging industry sector, create quality infrastructure and ensure value addition and increase exports.

The policy also recommended the establishment of an industrial park for the plastic industry, which will ensure proper infrastructure, nurture small and medium enterprises, provide uninterrupted utility services, avoid environmental hazards and ensure compliance.

The Environmental Management System (EMS) has to be introduced in all plastic industrial units as a strategy and manage the environmental impact of the production facility, according to the draft policy.

The country's plastic goods manufacturers and exporters have welcomed the move to formulate policy. They said the policy will help the sector prosper.

"We welcome the government to move to formulate plastic and packaging industry development policy 2019. We think it will help develop the sector," president of the Bangladesh Plastic Goods Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BPGMEA) Md Jashim Uddin told the FE.

He said the country's plastic goods see a significant export growth, driven by higher demand for Bangladeshi products in the global market.

He said the country is gradually capturing more share in the global market as it started to produce more diversified plastic goods.

Bangladesh exported plastic goods worth $ 98.48 million during the fiscal year 2017-18, according to the state-run Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).