Assignment Name: Baseline Study of Plastic Waste Management in Three Cities (Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar, and Tangail)

Country: Bangladesh

Client Name: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

The TCCF Plastics Circularity Project, implemented by UNDP with support from The Coca-Cola Foundation (TCCF), is a regional initiative across nine Asian countries—Bangladesh, India, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Cambodia, and Vietnam—designed to advance circular economy solutions for plastics. The project seeks to improve waste management systems, promote recycling, and reduce plastic leakage into the environment, thereby contributing to public health, environmental protection, and sustainable development.

In Bangladesh, the project focuses on three urban centers—Chattogram City Corporation, Cox’s Bazar Municipality, and Tangail Municipality—where plastic waste generation has grown rapidly, straining existing waste management systems. Despite ongoing government and non-government initiatives, significant challenges remain due to limited infrastructure, policy enforcement gaps, weak stakeholder coordination, and low public awareness. The Bangladesh component of the project aligns with national priorities such as the National 3R Strategy for Waste Management, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) guidelines, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 12 on responsible consumption and production).

To establish a solid evidence base for interventions, UNDP has commissioned a Baseline Study on the Plastic Waste Situation in Three Cities (Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar, and Tangail). The study will generate reliable data on plastic waste generation, collection, recycling, and disposal practices, while mapping infrastructure, value chains, and policy frameworks. It will also assess community knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) regarding plastic usage and disposal, and analyze the socio-economic realities of stakeholders, including informal waste workers and marginalized groups.

The overall objective of the assignment is to conduct a baseline survey that will generate reliable data on current plastic waste management practices, behaviors, infrastructure, socio-economic dynamics, and stakeholder engagement across the plastic value chain in the target areas/wards under Chattogram, Tangail & Cox’s Bazar.

The specific objectives of the study include:

• Map the plastic waste value chain, including sources, collection, segregation, transport, landfill, disposal and recycling.
• Map existing waste management infrastructure and service gaps in the one city corporation and two municipalities.
• Map the existing polity and regulatory framework governing plastic and solid waste management in Bangladesh, including at national and city corporation-municipality level and identify key gaps, overlaps and opportunities for strengthening policy making and enforcement in line with circular economy principles.
• Assess current knowledge, attitudes, and practices on plastic usage and waste among major sectoral consumption sources including households, businesses, industries, and institutions.
• Identify and understand the socio-economic dynamics of key stakeholders involved in the plastic value chain, including informal waste workers, analyze their roles, challenges, and opportunities for engagement and capacity building.
• Establish gender-sensitive baseline indicators for monitoring and evaluation (M&E) throughout the project lifecycle, including age, sex, ethnicity, disability and youth disaggregated data to ensure inclusive programme.

The baseline will provide gender-sensitive, disaggregated indicators to guide project design, strategic planning, and monitoring and evaluation. Findings will inform inclusive, circular, and sustainable plastic waste solutions for Bangladesh and contribute to regional learning under the broader TCCF Plastics Circularity Project.

DM WATCH LIMITED will carry out the baseline study through a structured, multi-phased approach combining quantitative surveys, qualitative assessments, stakeholder consultations, and advanced data analysis. The key services to be provided by our team are as follows:

Inception and Design

• Conduct inception meetings with UNDP and local stakeholders to refine objectives, methodology, and deliverables.
• Prepare a detailed Inception Report outlining variables, indicators, sampling framework, data collection tools, and ethical protocols.
• Design a cross-sectional mixed-methods approach integrating household, institutional, business, and waste actor surveys with in-depth qualitative research.

Tool Development and Field Preparation

• Develop structured survey instruments, KII/FGD guides, and observation checklists in Bangla and English.
• Pre-test all tools to ensure clarity, reliability, and contextual relevance.
• Recruit and train a diverse team of enumerators with emphasis on gender sensitivity, informed consent, and the use of digital data collection platforms (KoboToolbox/ODK).

Data Collection and Stakeholder Engagement

• Implement household, institutional, and business surveys across all wards of Chattogram City Corporation, Cox’s Bazar Municipality, and Tangail Municipality.
• Conduct Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) with municipal officials, government representatives, private sector actors, NGOs, and waste sector stakeholders.
• Facilitate Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with men, women, youth, and informal waste workers to capture lived experiences and behavioral drivers.
• Undertake direct site observations to identify plastic waste hotspots, infrastructure gaps, and informal market practices.

Technical Analysis

• Map the plastic waste value chain in the three cities, covering production, collection, segregation, recycling, and disposal, and identify key actors and market dynamics.
• Assess waste management infrastructure, business models, and digital traceability systems to highlight gaps and opportunities for circular interventions.
• Review the national and local policy and regulatory frameworks governing plastic waste management to identify overlaps, weaknesses, and opportunities for reform.
• Analyze socio-economic conditions of waste workers, with attention to gender, age, and marginalization, to highlight challenges and opportunities for formal engagement.
• Process quantitative data using SPSS/Stata/R for descriptive and inferential analysis, while coding qualitative data in NVivo/manual frameworks for thematic insights.
• Apply GIS techniques to produce spatial maps of waste flows, infrastructure locations, and informal sector activity zones.

Reporting and Validation

• Produce cleaned and validated datasets in Excel and SPSS, ensuring compliance with international standards.
• Prepare draft and final baseline reports integrating statistical analysis, value chain mapping, and actionable recommendations.
• Organize a stakeholder validation workshop, present findings, and incorporate feedback into the final outputs.
• Deliver all required outputs, including inception, cleaned datasets, draft and final reports, and workshop documentation, as per agreed timelines.

Through these services, DM WATCH LIMITED will generate a comprehensive evidence base for UNDP and partners to design inclusive, gender-responsive, and sustainable plastic waste management solutions in Bangladesh, while contributing to knowledge generation across the multi-country TCCF Plastics Circularity Project.