Overproduction of plastic waste has been causing negative impacts on the environment in Pakistan, like elsewhere in the world. Abid Qayyum Sulehri, Executive Director Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), said this while talking to WealthPK. He said waste management was a major global issue that governments faced daily and Pakistan was no stranger to this phenomenon.
As indicated by studies, plastic contamination is suffocating and harming the planet. A sum of nine billion tons of plastic were delivered somewhere in the range of 1950 and 2017, of which seven billion tons were disposed of. Today, 11 million tons of plastic proceed to contaminate and harm the seas. “Because of plastic contamination, we’re confronting a triple planetary emergency: environmental change, nature and biodiversity misfortune, and contamination and waste. It thwarts the right to a sound climate and eases back manageable turn of events,” said Sulehri. “The world is wrestling with the natural results of plastic waste, and Pakistan is the same. We create an expected 20 million tons of waste every year, with plastic waste making a critical extent of it,” he added. “In 2020, Pakistan delivered 3.9 million tons of plastic waste, of which 65pc was botched. Around 18pc of city strong waste created in Pakistan is plastic and just 3% of the plastic utilized by the assembling business is reused material.”
As per the World Bank, just 27% of Pakistan’s plastic waste is reused, leaving the rest in landfills or open spaces, where it requires many years to deteriorate. Moreover, a review led by the WWF in 2018 observed that Pakistan was one of the main 10 nations regarding plastic contamination, with an expected 90 percent of plastic waste being inappropriately discarded. To handle this issue, Pakistan needs to zero in on building a round economy where the waste is diminished, reused, and reused. This requires a coordinated exertion by every one of the partners, including the govt, the confidential area, and common society. The initial step is to lessen plastic utilization by advancing reasonable other options, like reusable sacks, compartments, and bundling materials. The govt can assume an essential part in such manner by forcing a restriction on single-utilize plastic sacks and advancing eco-accommodating items.
The public authority is as of now driving the way on natural issues. The Service of Environmental Change has forced a total restriction on the production, import, deal, buy, stockpiling and utilization of polythene sacks in the Islamabad Capital Domain.
