Bangladesh falls short of 2025 goal to replace traditional bricks with eco-friendly alternatives in government construction

Bangladesh’s ambitious plan to eliminate environmentally damaging traditional bricks from government construction projects by 2025 is falling dramatically short of its target, according to top environmental officials. The South Asian nation launched the initiative in 2019, aiming to replace conventional bricks with concrete blocks and hollow bricks across all government infrastructure projects to protect farmland and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“Unfortunately, most of the government works have continued to be carried out with the traditional bricks, which mostly made the target a failure,” Syeda Rizwana Hasan, adviser to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, told environmental news outlet Mongabay. The failure spans multiple government departments responsible for major construction projects, including housing, education infrastructure, and highway development. Only the Ministry of Housing and Public Works has achieved 100% use of clean building materials, while other agencies lag significantly behind.

Current estimates suggest that only 30-40% of total government construction projects have transitioned to alternative building materials. Traditional brick production continues to consume valuable agricultural land while generating substantial carbon emissions through energy-intensive firing processes. Officials acknowledge the setback and are now developing a new timeline with stricter enforcement mechanisms to achieve complete adoption of environmentally friendly building materials.

The Department of Environment plans to impose more rigorous directives on government agencies to accelerate the transition, though no specific new deadline has been announced. This policy failure highlights the ongoing challenges developing nations face in balancing rapid infrastructure development with environmental protection goals.