The streets of Khulna city are covered with single-use plastic waste. On the occasion of World Cleanup Day 2022, Environment and Social Development Organization – ESDO jointly with Khulna University conducted a day-long Brand Audit at Khulna University premises and its surrounding area to reveal the mask of the corporates who are responsible for harming our environment.

This audit also marks the beginning of the negotiations for the world’s first Global Plastic Treaty, a legally binding international law aimed at reducing plastic pollution worldwide, covering the full life cycle of plastic. This is a historic step forward in the fight against plastic pollution, but there is still a long road ahead as the negotiations continue throughout the end of 2024.

ESDO organized the Brand Audit for the 5th time in association with Plastic Solutions Fund and Break Free from Plastic. 

Around 100 students of Khulna University joined together and conducted the brand audit. The audit was monitored and supervised by university faculty members and the ESDO.

The Brand Audit was officially inaugurated by Prof. Mahmood Hossain, PhD, respected Vice-Chancellor of Khulna University. According to him “It is high time to reveal the face of corporates who are originally responsible for single-use plastic pollution to phase out plastic pollution from the root level”. It is their responsibility to take their waste back and they should act on it and should follow their “Corporate Social Responsibilities-CSR”, he added.

The special guest of the event was the School of Social Sciences Dean, Prof. Dr. Md. Nasif Ahsan; Director of Student Affairs Prof. Md. Sharif Hasan Limon; Head of Development Studies Discipline, Ms. Nuzhat Fatema and ESDO’s program associate Khalilur Rahman. The event was coordinated by Bayezid Khan

The Brand Audit tool is designed by Break Free from Plastic (BFFP) Global movement. The brand audit is mainly done to promote mass awareness and also for the manufacturers on safeguarding the environment from the harmful consequences of using single-use plastics.