Muhith for exploring potentials of plastic waste recycling
Tuesday, 26 January 2010
FE Report
Finance Minister AMA Muhith has urged the country's plastic manufacturers to explore potentials of waste recycling to mitigate the negative environmental impact of the industry.
"Around 60 per cent of waste generated by the plastic industries gets recycled in Bangladesh and the rest remains unused," he said while inaugurating the International Plastic Fair in the city Monday.
"This large amount of industrial waste and leftover, which has been blamed for massive environmental degradation, including pollution of the Buriganga river, could rather be recycled commercially for using in other industrial purposes," the finance minister added.
Mr Muhith also noted that in recent times, a number of enterprises are doing profitable business by effectively managing and recycling industrial wastes.
Identifying the plastic goods manufacturing as a highly potential industry for Bangladesh, the finance minister also said much of the possibilities of the plastic sector have remained unlocked.
"Possibly, there is a need for a composite study on exploring the other potential uses of plastic materials," the minister said.
"Plastic made furniture are already widely used, but the use of plastic in construction, for example, is yet to be tried," he added.
However, Mr Muhith was skeptical of the idea of a separate industrial park for the plastic manufacturers, cautioning that such parks often bring no notable changes for the industries.
"The idea of a separate industrial park solely for plastic manufacturing sounds good, but such industrial parks have often failed to realise expectations," he said.
"Rather, if those industries develop along with other type of industries, one can complement the other, which at the end of the day will be more beneficial," the minister added.
Earlier, Industries Minister Dilip Barua in his speech pledged necessary assistance for the construction of a separate industrial park for plastic manufacturing.
"Previously, the ministry of industries took some initiatives for setting up of the park and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was also signed with BISIC, but afterwards unfortunately, the project did not move forward much."
The industries minister also urged the local plastic manufacturers to diversify their range of products and asked them to remain competitive in the international market through the cost advantage.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith has urged the country's plastic manufacturers to explore potentials of waste recycling to mitigate the negative environmental impact of the industry.
"Around 60 per cent of waste generated by the plastic industries gets recycled in Bangladesh and the rest remains unused," he said while inaugurating the International Plastic Fair in the city Monday.
"This large amount of industrial waste and leftover, which has been blamed for massive environmental degradation, including pollution of the Buriganga river, could rather be recycled commercially for using in other industrial purposes," the finance minister added.
Mr Muhith also noted that in recent times, a number of enterprises are doing profitable business by effectively managing and recycling industrial wastes.
Identifying the plastic goods manufacturing as a highly potential industry for Bangladesh, the finance minister also said much of the possibilities of the plastic sector have remained unlocked.
"Possibly, there is a need for a composite study on exploring the other potential uses of plastic materials," the minister said.
"Plastic made furniture are already widely used, but the use of plastic in construction, for example, is yet to be tried," he added.
However, Mr Muhith was skeptical of the idea of a separate industrial park for the plastic manufacturers, cautioning that such parks often bring no notable changes for the industries.
"The idea of a separate industrial park solely for plastic manufacturing sounds good, but such industrial parks have often failed to realise expectations," he said.
"Rather, if those industries develop along with other type of industries, one can complement the other, which at the end of the day will be more beneficial," the minister added.
Earlier, Industries Minister Dilip Barua in his speech pledged necessary assistance for the construction of a separate industrial park for plastic manufacturing.
"Previously, the ministry of industries took some initiatives for setting up of the park and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was also signed with BISIC, but afterwards unfortunately, the project did not move forward much."
The industries minister also urged the local plastic manufacturers to diversify their range of products and asked them to remain competitive in the international market through the cost advantage.