Around 54 tons of plastic garbage was generated per day by Sylhet City Corporation in 2021. This plastic garbage mostly contained sachets, one-time-use utensils, personal care items, and different other single-use plastic products. Environment and Social Development Organization (ESDO) recently issued a new study report titled “The Plastic Deluge: In the Sylhet City Corporation Area, Bangladesh,” under the STEPP (Sustainable Transitions to End Plastic Pollution) project of the University of Portsmouth.

This event was graced by the Honorable Mayor of Sylhet City Corporation, Mr. Ariful Haque Choudhury as Chief Guest. The session was inaugurated by Muqtabis-un-Noor, Editor of The Daily Jalalabad. Dr. Cressida Bowyer, Senior Research Fellow and Deputy Lead, Revolution Plastics, University of Portsmouth, UK, and Steve Fletcher Professor, Ocean Policy and Economy Director, Sustainability and the Environment Research Theme & Revolution Plastics, University of Portsmouth, UK was the special of the event. They emphasized ending the plastic pollution from Sylhet as well as the global south by sustainable transition and strategic management. As the guest speaker of the event Dr. Shameem Ara Begum, Professor, of the Department of Chemistry, SUST, Dr. Md. Jahir Bin Alam, Professor, the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering SUST, Siddika Sultana, Executive Director, Environment & Social Development Organization-ESDO shared their valuable insights. Dr. Shahriar Hossain, Secretary General of ESDO and also the team leader of the study also gave his expert opinion addressing the severity of the problem of plastic pollution in the Sylhet City Corporation in this event. In the closing remarks Syed Marghub Murshed, Former Secretary of Bangladesh and Chairperson of ESDO urged the government and concerned organizations to build and supervise a sustainable waste management system at all of Sylhet’s tourist sites.

This event was also attended by different academicians from Sylhet and media people from both Dhaka and Sylhet.