Single-use plastic pollution has become a grave concern for the environment, biodiversity, public health, and civic management. Chittagong, a port city in Bangladesh has struggled to manage this problem for decades. Although laws, policies, and institutions designed to regulate plastic and environmental issues exist, the existing regulatory system has failed to generate desirable outcomes. Hence, this research seeks to understand why these measures have failed by examining their pathologies across the lifecycles of two prominent commodities: single-use plastic bottles and thin shopping bags.

Utilising qualitative case studies and a nodal governance framework, the research will examine what actors are involved, how these actors interact within a governance network and shape regulatory outcomes and draw on this analysis to ask what can be done to enhance regulatory policy and practice by improving coordination between state, market, and civil society actors.

The research will also provide important comparative insight into the relevance of prominent Western regulatory models (for example, ‘smart regulation’) to this Global South context, and may reveal new possibilities for achieving effective regulation in societies where state-capacity is limited. 

This seminar is Sharif's Confirmation of Candidature milestone presentation. As such, the presentation is a closed event for RegNet staff, visitors and students only.

About the speaker

Sherajul Mustajib Sharif is a PhD candidate at the School of Regulation and Global Governance (RegNet), ANU. He has worked as a researcher at BBC Media Action, Young Power in Social Action (YPSA), and Bangladesh Institute of Labor Studies (BILS) in Bangladesh. Additionally, he is the founder of Voice of International Affairs (VOIA).

COVID protocols

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This seminar presentation is in-person only. Registration is not required for in-person attendance as neither the ANU nor ACT Health conduct contact tracing any longer.

If you require accessibility accommodations or a visitor Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan please email regnet.communications@anu.edu.au.

Image credit: Image of people working on plastic bottles in a scrapyard by Mumtahina Tanni, free to use under pexels licence.