Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives Minister Md Tajul Islam has said future power production from waste would yield a revolutionary change in waste management as well.
Tajul was addressing a seminar on ‘Enabling Policy for Sustainable Plastic Waste Management’, organised by the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) at Hotel Sheraton in Banani.
He said as people consume more and more each day with their increasing incomes, the quantity of waste they produce keeps increasing as well.
The LGRD minister said it is a big challenge for the authorities to bring all the waste being produced under a proper management structure as waste is produced not just in cities but also in villages.
Tajul hails prospect of waste-to-energy revolution
Elaborating on local plans for producing power from waste, he said that some plants installed in areas under city corporations (e.g. Dhaka) are in their final stage.
The waste problem would be addressed to a great extent when these power plants become operational, he said.
Waste-to-Energy (WtE) is the generation of energy in the form of heat or electricity from waste. According to the Waste to Energy Report 2021/2022, around 2,500 WtE plants are active worldwide, with a disposal capacity of around 420 million tons of waste per year.
Tajul said they took up the waste-to-energy initiative to produce power following a model being used in developed countries. Protecting the environment and human health were the foremost considerations in the minds of the planners.
Acknowledging the government’s failure to stop random use of polythene bags overnight, he asked for sustainable alternatives to be found first.
Source: United News of Bangladesh