Environment Minister Abdul Awal Mintoo has announced the government is working to create an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) framework to ensure environmentally sound management in the lead-acid battery industry.
Speaking as the chief guest at a seminar titled ‘Advancing Towards a Lead-Free Bangladesh: Scaling Solutions and Active Youth Engagement’ on Wednesday.
The minister said that the new framework will define the responsibilities of battery manufacturers and importers, enable the safe collection of used batteries, and establish an environmentally sound recycling system.
He added that industrial enterprises must comply with existing environmental laws and regulations while playing a responsible role in protecting the health of workers and local communities.
The seminar was organised by Pure Earth Bangladesh at a capital hotel on the occasion of International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week 2026.
Emphasising the need to ensure the effective implementation of the national action plan to prevent lead pollution, Mintoo affirmed the government’s commitment to building a lead-pollution-free Bangladesh.
He noted that immediate, coordinated measures are essential to ensure healthy child development, worker health protection, and a safe environment.
To achieve this, ministries, government agencies, industrial enterprises, development partners, and stakeholders must work collectively to execute the government-approved ‘National Strategy and Multi-Year Action Plan for a Lead-Free Bangladesh 2026–2035’.
Earlier, on 17 August 2026, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman approved the ‘National Strategy and Multi-Year Action Plan for a Lead-Free Bangladesh 2026–2035’.
The action plan prioritises identifying sources of lead pollution, environmental monitoring, enhancing institutional capacity, strengthening laws and regulations, promoting responsible participation by the industrial sector, creating public awareness, research, and inter-institutional coordination.
Following the approval of the national strategy, its effective execution must now be ensured, the Environment Minister stressed.
He noted that formulating specific action plans, securing required funding, enhancing laboratory capacity, rehabilitating contaminated areas, establishing safe industrial management, and strengthening regular environmental monitoring are necessary.
He also urged development partners, international organisations, and the private sector to extend financial and technical support for implementing the national action plan.
Highlighting the crucial role of youth in raising public awareness and implementing innovative local solutions, the Minister called for encouraging young people’s creative initiatives through technical assistance, training, and guidance.
He urged youth to engage more actively in the movement to build a lead-free Bangladesh.
At the seminar, the ‘National Youth Alliance for a Lead-Free Bangladesh’ was officially launched to combat lead pollution. Prizes were awarded to the winners of art and innovation competitions organised to raise awareness and foster local solutions. Furthermore, two portable X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) analysers were handed over to enhance the lead pollution detection capacity of the Department of Environment.
The seminar was chaired by Mohammad Navid Shafiullah, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Professor Kazi Ahmed Zaki, Director of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), and Mohammad Sulaiman Haider, Additional Director General of the Department of Environment, addressed the seminar as special guests, while Mitali Das, Country Director of Pure Earth Bangladesh, delivered the welcome address.
