Zero waste initiative for Bani Gala launched

Project would raise awareness on waste reduction, reuse and recycling

ISLAMABAD: All stakeholders joined hands to make Bani Gala a zero waste town as the Amal Foundation launched the zero waste initiative on Saturday in collaboration with Karim Khan Afridi Welfare Foundation and Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation (IMC). The initiative aimed to educate people on solid waste management.

A public awareness festival was also arranged at the football ground in Bani Gala for the general public to mark the initiation of the project in which the community representatives, environmentalists and concerned officials participated.

The initiative is the first of its kind in Pakistan. The aim is to introduce two trash bins to segregate trash at source in the households. The partners of the initiative are determined to make Bani Gala a role model for the rest of the country. The project will raise awareness among the public about waste reduction, reuse and recycling for sustainable and smart waste management in the area.

Speaking on the occasion, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam said, preparing Pakistan for climate change means ensuring our cities and communities are sustainable, both now and in the future.

He said, “We need to design policies and implement programmes that work for our residents, and for the environment we depend upon. This initiative will lead by example to become zero waste communities, and invest in the future of residents and generations to come.”

Amin Aslam added that many cities in the world have transformed themselves from the dirtiest to cleanest in just a few years by recovering and recycling 80-90 per cent of their solid waste.

He said that the Ministry of Climate Change (MoCC) has developed a clean city index consisting of 29 indicators on which each city in Pakistan has to perform in order to get their respective share in the provincial budgets. He said that the Zero Waste Model being set up in Bani Gala would serve as a model for other communities and cities in Pakistan.

Amal Foundation President Mahreen Waseem said citizens’ cooperation would make the cities clean and green if they learnt how to manage solid waste properly. Segregation of wet and dry garbage leads the cities to zero waste. The trash we throw on the streets can be recycled and help people make money if used rationally.

UC (Kuri) Chairman Jameel Khokhar extended his full support to make the progress a success and thanked the project implementation team consisting of a consortium of civil society and private sector organisations.

The area residents expressed the hope that the project would help reduce the environmental and health risks associated with improper waste collection, recycling and disposal.

They hoped that by implementation of the project, Bani Gala will become a model community with high score on the city index introduced by the Ministry of Climate Change. 

Published in The Express Tribune, October 27^th, 2019.