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Female workers sort through a pile of tens of thousands of plastic household items for them to be recycled in a recycling plastic factory in Barishal city, Bangladesh. As plastic breaks down, sunlight and heat cause the plastic to release powerful greenhouse gases. Hotter temperatures cause the plastic to break down further into more methane and ethylene, increasing the rate of climate change––perpetuating the cycle of warming. The thousands of bottles, household toys, plastic materials collected from households, restaurants, hotels and markets, all come from the city of Barishal in Bangladesh. "There are about 20 to 25 thousand bottles in the pile, which usually consists of around 7-10 days worth of collecting plastic bottles from the area. Street workers bring them to the recycling factory in vans or trucks depending on the quantity collected. The people are sorting and recycling the used plastic bottles thrown away after use according to colour, size and thickness." "After that, they are sent out to different factories for further processing. The bottles will be melted and made into new ones. So there will be less harm to the environment. With plastic never decaying, plastic recycling in Bangladesh is a big industry nowadays."

Plastic Recycling

2022 Photo Contest Winner submission_type Winner
Copyright © 2022 Mustasinur Rahman Alvi

Country Bangladesh
Topics Climate Finance and Economic Growth, Democracy, Rights, and Governance, Humanitarian Assistance

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