The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in association with the Department of Environment (DoE) Friday conducted a drive in the capital city to prevent the use of banned polythene shopping bags. A team inspected Mohammadpur Agricultural Market and several nearby supermarkets in the capital.

During the drive, members of the monitoring committee urged shop owners to use jute and cloth bags instead of polythene. Vendors were instructed to cease using polythene bags, with a warning that strict actions would be taken if polythene bags were found during future inspections.

Tapan Kumar Biswas, Additional Secretary (Environmental Pollution Control) and head of the monitoring team informed the media that strict legal actions will be taken against polythene bag manufacturers from November 3.

Instructions have been issued to all Deputy Commissioners and DoE field officers to ensure enforcement of the ban on polythene bags.

Although mobile courts are not being operated on November 1 and 2 due to the weekend, monitoring will continue, he said, seeking public cooperation in checking polythene bag use.

Joint Secretary Mohammad Rezaul Karim, Deputy Secretary Rubina Ferdousi, and DoE Directors Rajinara Begum and Mohammad Masud Hasan Patwari and officials concerned were also present.

Nationwide Crackdown on Polythene Manufacturers to Begin Sunday

The government will launch a nationwide crackdown on polythene manufacturers starting Sunday, with mobile court drives set to curb the production and use of the banned material.

Tapan Kumar Biswas, additional secretary at the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change, announced the initiative during an awareness campaign at Dhaka's Mohammadpur Krishi Market on Friday. He urged the public to switch to eco-friendly alternatives like jute and cloth bags and directed shopkeepers to discontinue the use of polythene bags, warning of strict penalties for non-compliance.

The awareness campaign will continue across markets in the first week of November, after which enforcement will intensify. Biswas, who also leads the ministry's monitoring team, stated that legal actions against polythene manufacturers will begin from November 3. District authorities have been instructed to ensure strict enforcement nationwide.

Although mobile courts will pause over the weekend on November 1 and 2, monitoring efforts will remain in place. Biswas appealed for public cooperation in reducing polythene usage and shifting to sustainable alternatives.

At Mohammadpur’s Krishi Market, many shoppers carried bags from home, though some expressed challenges in finding alternatives for carrying wet items like fish and meat. "I brought a bag for vegetables, but I still need polythene for fish. We need suitable alternatives," said shopper Rabiul Islam.

While reusable plastic bags brought from home are currently allowed, the monitoring team emphasized that single-use polythene bags will soon be fully phased out.

Cloth Bags Available for Tk 25

The ministry’s team also inspected Prince Bazaar and Agora supermarkets in Mohammadpur, which have already phased out polythene. These stores now offer cloth bags for Tk 25 and use sturdy paper bags for fish and meat. However, some shoppers voiced concerns about paper bags’ durability for wet items.

Shamsuddin Omar, manager at Prince Bazaar, shared the store’s environmental commitment: “For purchases over Tk 3,000, we provide two free cloth bags. We also buy back old bags, clean them, and resell them as second-hand items to encourage reuse.”

The monitoring team revealed that they have identified several illegal polythene factories. From November 3, these factories will be shut down with law enforcement support, and strict penalties will be enforced to ensure compliance.