China plastic import ban and its impact on PET recycling in Bangladesh

---

Khadem Mahmud Yusuf

Bangladesh Petrochemical Company Ltd, Bangladesh

: Expert Opin Environ Biol

Abstract

---

Most of the PET bottle flakes produced in Bangladesh was exported to China till 2017. Bangladesh exported 60,000 MT of PET flakes to China in 2017 (98% of Total Flakes export). Starting from January 1st, 2018 China has imposed plastic import ban resulting total collapse of the PET flakes manufacturing industry. As a result, almost 40% of Bangladesh’s use PET bottle stock is lying unsold in the local collection shops. The amount is significantly large- almost 30,000 ~ 35,000 MT of plastic bottles. Since such a large amount of used PET bottle stock is remaining unsold, selling price of used PET bottles is going down and thus waste collectors are losing their interest in collecting used PET bottles to sell. The effect of this phenomenon will be seen soon as bottles will start lying around more than usual on the streets polluting the environment. Thus, it appears that the entrance of local companies into the PET recycling market at this time is good for the country, as the companies will be purchasing additional 30,000 MT of the untouched PET bottle stock from the market. It’s a win-win situation for everyone. The price of PET bale has gone down, giving more opportunities for the companies to lower its production cost. Bangladesh Petrochemical Company Ltd (BPCL) along with few other local companies are planning to increase their recycling capacity to 30,000 MT from current level of 15,000 MT pet annum, collecting bottles firstly from Dhaka and major cosmopolitan cities and later, as required, from all over the country.

Biography

---

Khadem Mahmud Yusuf is the CEO of Bangladesh Petrochemical Company Ltd (BPCL). He has 25 years of experience working in Silicon Valley, USA and in Bangladesh. Prior to forming BPCL, he has worked for 5 years as the country manager for Bangladesh at Nokia Siemens Networks. He was also the founder & CEO of Alap Communication and National Data Consultant for Bangladesh Central Bank. Before moving back to Bangladesh in 2005, he worked at Cowave Networks in Fremont, California, Zettacom Inc in San Jose, California, iReady Corp in Sunnyvale, California and National Semiconductor Corporation in Santa Clara, California, USA. He holds a BS in electrical engineering from Washington University in St. Louis, USA and a MS in electrical engineering from Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA.

E-mail: kyusuf@bpcl.com.bd