Plastic Pollution, Its Causes and Impacts on Environment and Livelihood

Abstract

The plastic derived product has now become an essential commodity of our daily life. A large volume of used plastics poses serious environmental threats resulting danger for marine life, decrease in the soil fertility and pollution of ground water. For the developing country like Bangladesh, it is very difficult as well as challenging also to maintain and manage the control of the pollution of this vast plastic waste. The major reasons of deficient plastic management in Bangladesh are scarcity of facilities, infrastructure development, and inadequate allocation for waste management. Neither is any significant or effective actions taken or there is no particular or specific law to control the ongoing plastic pollution. The prevailing environmental laws in the country are not adequate enough to address the problem while its implementations are also largely absent. The paper aims to determine the causes of plastic pollution and its impacts on the environment and livelihood; to scrutinize the prevailing related laws and policies and to conclude with recommendations to stop plastic pollution in Bangladesh. The paper makes use of secondary data, i.e. books, articles, national and international law reports, Acts etc.