Our team was on location to witness operations at one of Chattogram’s massive landfill sites and rivers overflowing with used plastic in a city that produces 249 tonnes of plastic waste per day.

Our team was on location to witness operations at one of Chattogram’s massive landfill sites and rivers overflowing with used plastic in a city which produces 249 tonnes of plastic waste per day.

Chattogram is currently in the midst of an epidemic of waste mismanagement. According to a study by the Civil Engineering Department of Chattogram University of Engineering and Technology (CUET), the city produces 249 tonnes of plastic waste per day, with 56% going uncollected. The study suggests that the city, home to the country’s busiest commercial port, will produce 428 tonnes of waste per day by 2052. Much of the city’s current used plastic finds its way to Chattogram’s many rivers and waterways, potentially causing serious long-term ecological issues and public health hazards.

The video below shows how we verified the footage we received from Bangladesh’s second city in our newsroom.