KARACHI:
The menace of plastic waste is growing all across Pakistan. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, plastics make up 65% of the total garbage in the country. Following plastic bags, Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) bottles are the second most common type of plastic waste. Furthermore, PET bottles can take up to three hundred years to decompose. Therefore, a mechanism for recycling PET bottles in Pakistan must be implemented at the earliest. This could be achieved by utilising a bottle deposit system that is successfully practised in more than 40 countries worldwide.
This system comprises three steps. First customers pay the deposit amount that is already included in the bottle price. Second, users return empty PET bottles at designated vending machines to obtain a deposit receipt. These machines are usually found in supermarkets. Finally, the receipts are submitted to the store cashier who deducts the claimed amount from the total grocery bill. This strategy would prove beneficial as waste collection authorities would easily acquire PET bottles at specific collection points. The procedure also ensures separation from other waste types before dispatch for recycling.
In conclusion, this initiative would result in a significant reduction of plastic waste in our country.
Arsalan Ahmad
Aachen, Germany
Published in The Express Tribune, September 29th, 2022.
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