The streets of capital Dhaka are flooded with plastic waste due to poor waste management and lack of awareness among its inhabitants.
As much as 48.7 kg of plastic waste, mostly single-use plastic, was found in a two-day brand audit campaign, organised by a local environment rights group with the participation of students, said a media release on Thursday.
Environment and Social Development Organization (ESDO) carried out the brand audit to identify the number of different brands that can be found in plastic waste.
ESDO mostly identified six international and 14 local brands, including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestlé, Unilever, Perfetti Van Melle, Mondelez, Bombay Sweets and Co. Ltd, Pran RFL Ltd, Square Foods and Beverage Ltd, Akij Group, Meghna Group of Industries etc.
The audit started at Dhanmondi Government Boys’ High School and made its way to Bijoy Sharani Road via Bangladesh Jute Research Institute, TNT, Ispahani Islamia Eye Hospital, Tejgaon college and Khamarbari.
Some 50 students of Lalmatia Housing Society School and College participated in the brand audit and collected single-use plastic waste from these locations.
Shahriar Hossain, Secretary General of ESDO, Akmal Hossain, principal of Lalmatia Housing Society School and College, some teachers of the school, journalists and ESDO team participated in the audit campaign.
The Brand Audit tool is designed by Break Free from Plastic (BFFP) Global movement. The brand audit is mainly conducted to promote mass awareness and enlighten manufacturers about safeguarding the environment from the harmful effects of single-use plastic.
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