Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Md. Shahab Uddin said on Thursday that efforts are underway to reduce single-use plastic by 90 percent within 2026 and increase recycling of plastic waste to 80 percent by 2030.

“Following the government's sustainable plastic management action plan, efforts are being made to reduce the use of single-use plastic by 90 percent by 2026.  In addition, we’re planning to increase the recycling of plastic waste to 80 percent by 2030 and reduce the generation of plastic waste to 30 percent at that time”, said Md. Shahab Uddin.

The minister made the remarks while addressing a seminar as the Chief Guest at Hotel Pan Pacific Sonargaon on solid waste management.

The government has formulated a three-year action plan to stop the use of single-use plastic in coastal areas, said the minister, hoping that use of environment-friendly and biodegradable materials will be increased very soon.

The goal of the government's National 3R policy for waste management is to completely eliminate waste disposal on open land, rivers, streams, canals and plains and to encourage waste recycling through mandatory separation of waste at source and to create a market for recyclable products, said the minister.

Hoping that the country will be able to achieve a sustainable solution to the problem of solid waste in the near future, he said, “Pollution control requires law enforcement as well as the cooperation of the general public.”

Secretary of the Environment, Forest and Climate Change Ministry Dr. Farhina Ahmed, Deputy Minister Habibun Nahar, Chairman of the parliamentary committee on the ministry Saber Hossain Chowdhury, secretary of the local government division Muhammad Ibrahim also spoke at the seminar.

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