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How Bangladesh is giving waste new life, and workers new dignity

Safety in plastic waste collection
Plastic pre-processing hubs are equipping workers with safety gear. PHOTO: BEYOND BORDERS MEDIA AND UNITED NATIONS OFFICE FOR PROJECT SERVICES

In the riverside town of Rupganj, just outside Dhaka, a quiet revolution is reshaping both the lives of people and the fate of plastic waste. Every morning, workers—many of them once-invisible waste pickers—arrive at a modest yet transformative recycling facility. Here, they are met not with danger or exploitation, but with protective equipment, digital tools, mobile payments and, perhaps most importantly, recognition.

This is the promise of the Recycling Business Unit (RBU) model—a grassroots, technologically enabled approach that is redefining how Bangladesh tackles plastic pollution. By placing dignity, inclusion and innovation at its core, this model shows that circular economy solutions can also be deeply human.

The human cost behind the plastic crisis

Bangladesh generates over 3,000 tonnes of plastic waste daily. More than 1,000 tonnes of it leak into rivers and eventually flow into the Bay of Bengal. Ranked among the world's top ten countries for plastic mismanagement, the environmental and public health risks are significant.

At the heart of the recycling chain are informal waste pickers, often women, who collect, sort and trade plastic in unsafe, exploitative conditions. They face hazardous environments, irregular incomes and little to no access to healthcare or legal protection.

Only about 37.2 percent of plastic in Dhaka is currently recycled. The remainder is burned, dumped or left to pollute ecosystems. And in many national policies and donor strategies, the workers doing the hardest labour are too often left out of the picture.

In response, Bangladesh Petrochemical Company Ltd (BPCL), with support from the South Asia Co-operative Environment Programme (SACEP), the World Bank and UNOPS under the Plastic Free Rivers and Seas for South Asia (PLEASE) project, introduced the Recycling Business Unit (RBU) model.

RBUs are decentralised plastic pre-processing hubs located in coastal towns, urban outskirts and riverside areas most affected by plastic leakage. They are designed to serve three critical functions—collect and sort plastic waste, especially PET bottles; provide dignified employment and training for local waste workers; and ensure digital traceability and environmental compliance. The construction of seven RBUs under the PLEASE project is underway in the following locations: Rupganj and Shiddhirganj in Narayanganj, Chattogram, Cumilla, Feni, Bogura and Cox's Bazar.

Equipped with safety gear, washrooms, childcare support and on-site medical services, these facilities are transforming what recycling work can, and should, look like. Most importantly, mobile payments replace risky cash transactions, enabling transparency and financial inclusion.

"I used to work in unsafe places with no protection," says Salma Begum, a waste worker in Cox's Bazar. "Now I earn regularly, have access to healthcare and childcare, and I've joined a savings group. For the first time, I feel respected."

RBUs are more than job sites, they are platforms for empowerment. Women workers are trained in digital literacy and small business skills, with many now managing sourcing networks or operating microenterprises.

Impact on the ground

Since their inception in September 2023, RBUs have delivered measurable results—they recovered over 350 tonnes of plastic; diverted 17.5 million PET bottles from entering rivers and oceans; provided formal work to over 3,500 workers, 40 percent of them women; delivered health services to 1,170 waste workers, including 608 female, through 29 health camps; replaced cash-based middlemen with secure digital payments, implemented digital systems for tracking waste and ensuring regulatory compliance.

The RBU model shows that recycling can be more than a technical fix. It can be a social contract—rooted in fairness, powered by trust and driven by the communities most affected. For countries grappling with similar challenges across South Asia and beyond, it offers a practical, adaptable blueprint.

New features are being considered for the next phase of the PLEASE project, including blockchain-based traceability, Ocean Bound Plastic (OBP) certification, and plastic-to-fibre conversion for Bangladesh's garment industry.

As the PLEASE project nears its end, BPCL is preparing for the model's next leap: converting recycled PET into polyester yarn for the country's textile sector. This shift aligns environmental goals with economic value creation—transforming plastic from waste into a resource and linking informal workers to high-value global supply chains.

Local governments are partnering with RBUs to collect waste from restaurants and hotels, replacing informal waste collection practices with transparent, trackable systems. In doing so, plastic waste is no longer just discarded; it is seen as a valuable resource, driving livelihoods and fostering reinvention.

The RBU model offers a proven, practical solution for countries across the Global South grappling with plastic pollution and informal labour. Its key principles—formalising workers, using digital payments for transparency and ensuring traceability—are adaptable across contexts.

In a region where climate vulnerability meets rapid urbanisation, this model demonstrates that solutions rooted in dignity and innovation can have an outsized impact.

Plastic pollution is among the most visible signs of environmental collapse. But Bangladesh's experience shows that the solution is not only about waste—but about people. When we invest in systems that protect both people and the planet, every bottle becomes more than just trash—it becomes a symbol of renewal, fairness and opportunity. And every person who picks up that bottle? A quiet hero, building a better future.


Obidul Islam is programme manager at UNOPS.


Khadem Mahmud Yusuf is managing director and CEO at Bangladesh Petrochemical Company Limited (BPCL).


Bushra Nishat is environmental specialist at the World Bank.


Views expressed in this article are the author's own.


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