Pakistan is facing the alarming issue of mismanagement and improper disposal of hazardous waste. Absence of a clear policy direction and weak enforcement of legislation on ban of import of hazardous waste has escalated this issue in Pakistan. To protect the public health and environment is the sole responsibility of the Government of Pakistan. Therefore, pragmatic steps are needed to manage the menace of hazardous waste.
Lahore has been repeatedly ranked as the top most polluted city in the world. It all in all generates about 500,000 tons of waste a year, causing new heights of public concern these days. This problem is a stumbling block strengthening its roots in Lahore. The public and media did not perceive hazardous waste to be a major environmental and public health risk seriously until about 1978. Till date, many countries have taken steady steps and come up with significant policies to tackle this issue. However, despite the policies and regulations regarding solid waste management, Pakistan still lacks a proper waste management infrastructure and urgently needs a waste road map to cope up with this challenge.
Hazardous waste means any waste which, by reason of its chemical activity is toxic, explosive, flammable, corrosive, radioactive, poisonous, infectious or by other hazardous characteristics, causes, or is likely to cause, directly or in combination with other matters, an adverse effect to human health and/or the environment.
There is no systematic mechanism in Pakistan for the collection and disposal of hazardous waste generated from hospital, industrial, transport, energy, mining, and agriculture activities. In practice, local authorities are handling and disposing of significant quantities of HW, often without any consistent procedures, and sometimes with no knowledge of the serious problems they may create.
Industrial pollution is a- major problem in Pakistan. The minimal response of industry to hazardous waste is mainly due to the poor performance of the sector, lack of information about new technologies and high investments required for changing the processes coupled with weak regulatory mechanisms. Industries dispose of their effluents into nearby streams, rivers, lakes and agricultural fields, which on the one hand cause diseases and on the other degrade the overall water quality. The major industries among them include inorganic and organic chemical manufacturing, pesticide manufacturing, textiles, pharmaceutical manufacturing, tanneries, cement, electrical equipment, glass and ceramics, pulp and paper, and petroleum refining.
The Rules for Hospital Waste Management were prepared and notified by the then Ministry of Environment in 2005, giving detailed information and covering all aspects of safe hospital waste management in the country. However, its enforcement remains a matter of concern. There are no systematic approaches to medical waste treatment and disposal in the country. Hospital waste is simply mixed with the municipal waste in collecting bins at roadsides and subsequently disposed of. Some wastes are simply buried without any appropriate measures. A common practice in Pakistan is the reuse of disposable syringes. People pick up used syringes from the hospital waste and sell them.
Plastic waste’s imports into Pakistan have shown an exponential growth in the past few years. According to a study on “Plastic waste management in Pakistan: baseline report, 2020”, Pakistan has been importing plastic waste from different parts of the world with an average annual tonnage of around 46,000 tons. Between 2012-2020, Pakistan imported plastic waste totalling $115 million. In 2017-2018 alone, more than 80,000 tons of the plastic waste was imported. These imported plastic scrap contains higher amounts of contamination residuals, pest dumps, germs and infections, pesticides and food particles, including many other hazardous chemicals and additives.
The local plastic manufacturers, for instance, use imported hazardous plastic scraps and waste to produce finished plastic goods and articles. These scraps are not tested for contaminants before being cleared for manufacturing. This is a clear violation of the Import Policy Order put in place by the Government. In-addition, this violates the Basel Convention, which specifies that end-of-life plastic products containing contaminants and constituents that fall under hazard class 6 and 9 of the Convention are to be sent back to the country from where the plastic waste was imported.
Technical guidelines for the reuse, recycling, treatment and disposal of each kind of hazardous waste should be prepared and adopted. If the options for reuse, recovery, or recycling are exhausted for a waste then depending on the category of that waste, possible options for chemical/biological treatment, incineration, or any other mode of safe and environmentally sound disposal can also be adopted.
Despite being a party to the Basel Convention, Pakistan is being used by many developed countries around the world as a dumping ground for their e-waste, which creates environmental and health hazards. According to United Nations University, Bonn, Germany, there is no inventory or exact data on e-waste generation in Pakistan; but many such items are being imported to Pakistan as secondhand products. One of the studies has attempted to estimate illegal annual average import of e-waste to Pakistan of around 954,000 tons (mostly computers and related products). Similarly, according to the study on “Plastic waste management in Pakistan: baseline report, 2020”, Pakistan also generates around 30 million tons of solid waste a year, which has been increasing at a rate of more than 2 percent annually. These types of waste and products contain significant quantities of hazardous substances which contaminate the general waste and make it all hazardous. Moreover, the information on the quantity of the generation of hazardous waste from other sectors in the country is deficient, because Pakistan has yet to conduct the first level generation inventory of hazardous waste in the country.
Hazardous waste issues cut across national boundaries due to their import and export, thus becoming a huge global pollution crisis. Waste dealers and brokers shall ensure that the waste they buy and sell shall be managed in such a way that environmentally sound management is assured. They shall have an understanding of proper implementation of and compliance with the Basel Convention for trans-boundary movements of hazardous waste. The Federal Government shall prohibit the import of hazardous waste for disposal purposes, but for reuse, recycling, recovery and processing, it shall allow it in a manner which ensures the protection of human health and the environment. Moreover, the Federal government shall ensure proper record and maintenance of data for import, export, transit, and illegal traffic of hazardous waste.
Prevention, however, will not solve all the problems associated with hazardous waste management. Some wastes are already, or will inevitably be, generated. Hence, for such waste as prevention and minimization possibilities have been exhausted then reuse, recycling, and reclamation are ways of managing hazardous waste which, if properly conducted, can avoid environmental hazards, protect scarce natural resources, and reduce the nation’s reliance on raw materials and energy.
Technical guidelines for the reuse, recycling, treatment and disposal of each kind of hazardous waste should be prepared and adopted. If the options for reuse, recovery, or recycling are exhausted for a waste then depending on the category of that waste, possible options for chemical/biological treatment, incineration, or any other mode of safe and environmentally sound disposal can also be adopted.
An efficient hazardous waste management system must include strict measures governing the collection and storage of hazardous waste at the generator’s site or at any other transfer or disposal facility. Government, producers, and retailers shall coordinate and develop integrated citizen-friendly take-back systems in order to achieve effective collection and management of HW such as, household hazardous waste, expired medicines, tires, and e-waste. The hazardous waste shall be properly segregated from non-hazardous waste and stored in containers, tanks, or containment buildings.
Safe and closed containers must be kept closed and marked with the date on which hazardous waste accumulation began. Tanks and containers are required to be marked with the words “Hazardous Waste”. The HW to be transported must be packaged and labeled according to its category or type. The transport agency must employ and use safe and closed container for the transportation of hazardous waste.
