Polythene bags to be confiscated, no further exemptions

Polythene bags will be confiscated on sight as authorities move to strictly enforce the country’s long-standing ban on single-use plastics, a senior government adviser has warned.

Syeda Rizwana Hasan, adviser to the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change and the Ministry of Water Resources, said on Sunday (31 August) that no further leniency would be shown to those found using polythene bags.

Speaking at the launch of an eco-friendly jute bag marketing campaign in Dhaka’s Karwan Bazar, she said: “This time, no one will be spared. The ban on polythene shopping bags will be rigorously implemented through regular market inspections. To secure the future of our children, we must put an end to polythene use.”

Hasan pointed out that the government is subsidising almost all sizes of jute bags—except the largest—making them affordable for the public. “One bag can be used for six months to a year. There is no excuse anymore,” she added.

Bangladesh became the first country in the world to ban polythene shopping bags in 2002, yet their use persists more than two decades later.

The adviser described the continued reliance on polythene in 2025 as “highly negative,” stressing that the ban applies only to single-use plastics, particularly polythene shopping bags, not all forms of plastic.

Encouraging the use of jute products, she said fish, meat, and vegetables can all be carried in jute bags, which can be washed and reused. “This will help protect the environment and safeguard the next generation,” she noted.

The event was also addressed by Sheikh Bashir Uddin, Adviser to the Ministry of Commerce, Md Abdur Rouf, Secretary of the Ministry of Textiles and Jute, and Zinat Ara, Director General of the Department of Jute.