ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s annually generated 49.6 million metric tons of solid waste is a potential source of waste-to-energy, resource recovery and recycling to promote the circular economy, simultaneously addressing waste management and livelihood creation.
This was the crux of the consultative workshop on Integrated ‘Solid Waste Management in Pakistan’ organized by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) in collaboration with the Ministry of Climate Change’s Living Indus Initiative.
Speaking on the occasion, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, Muhammad Farooq in his opening remarks said waste
management was a complex issue that demanded multisectoral and stakeholder interventions to promote workable and bankable projects that not only manage the
trash but also generate a separate economy providing livelihoods and green entrepreneurship among the communities.
“Pakistan is producing 5 billion plastic bags every year that end up in water bodies, channels, drains and rivers across the country. The federal government
has banned the one-time use polythene and plastic bags,” he said.
The Living Indus Initiative is the project of the government of Pakistan to restore and purge the largest river of the country from plastic pollution, contamination, degradation and habitat loss, he added.
Farooq said creating synergies under the project was a challenge for the government and it was struggling to get finances as it would require around $6 billion to implement it.
He added that the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) have been requested to provide some funding to start the project. “Pakistan has no infrastructure for proper disposal and segregation of waste, whereas two waste-to-energy projects were closed due to lack of segregated waste as currently, the waste generated was mostly wet and kitchen-based,” he said.
Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri, Executive Director, SDPI said the forum was convened to provide firsthand knowledge on the integrated waste management landscape in Pakistan, whereas the Institute was a secretariat to alliance on the network for the circular economy and was working out practical suggestions for waste management in the country.
