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As an alternative to harmful polythene, biodegradable bags are being produced from corn starch in Rajshahi.
Crystal Bio Tech, a native company, has been producing the eco-friendly bags for the last six months in its factory at Chapal village under Godagari upazila in the district.
Visiting the factory recently, this correspondent found that the bags were being made from the corn starch (the white part which becomes visible after the yellow coating of corn is removed). The raw material is initially fed into the machine and inflated with the help of hot air to produce polythene-like bags.
Iftekharul Haque, the owner of Crystal Bio Tech, said that he had been trying for the past few years to produce environment-friendly bags as an alternative to polythene due to harmful effects of plastic.
"Finally, we are able to produce the bags with the corn starch six month ago," he said, adding that they could manufacture 200,000 bags per day.
Iftekharul Haque said that the price of their bags was a little bit higher than that of the polythene bags available in the market as they had to import the raw material, corn starch, from abroad.
At present, the price of a big size bag is being sold at Tk 4.
The manufacturer said that the price of their bags would be the same as of the polythene bags once they can collect the raw materials from the corn at their factory.
Claiming that the demand for biodegradable bags is increasing at home and abroad, Iftekharul said that they had already exported the first shipment of their products to the Middle Eastern countries.
He said that the government imposed a ban on the use of polythene bags in 2002 due to its negative impacts on the environment.
"If government support is available and people are made aware of biodegradable bags properly, it will be possible for us to reach these eco-friendly bags to the people at a very lower price", he added.
Contacted, Tanmoy Sanyal, Rajshahi Divisional Coordinator of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA), said the government imposed a ban on the use of polythene bags due to its harmful effects, but its production, marketing and use have been going unabated.
"The manufacturing of eco-friendly bags from corn starch is a very good initiative. The government should come forward to help this entrepreneur," he said, adding that if people were made aware of using this biodegradable bag, the nation would find out its benefits in the future.
Rajshahi Deputy Commissioner (DC) Shamim Ahmed said the district administration would patronise the entrepreneur to manufacture biodegradable bags as they are eco-friendly.
He said that he would encourage the officers of his office to use these bags.
"The attention of the government will be drawn for cooperation in this connection," he said, adding that they would also try to make people aware of using these eco-friendly bags instead of polythene bags.