Plastic producers urged to manage waste

PM’s aide on climate change notes increase in consumption by 15 per cent

ISLAMABAD:

The Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam has called upon the plastic producers to manage the menace of plastic waste in a sustainable manner, which is creating a havoc for the environment and public health.

Organised jointly by the Ministry of Climate Change (MoCC) and the Pakistan Collect and Recycle (CoRe) Alliance, the day-long event aimed to discuss at length and frame responses to shared challenge of packaging waste and collection mechanism, drive performance improvements and, ultimately, strengthen collective action for sustainable collection and disposal of plastic waste in a scientific and environment-friendly way.

Addressing the audience as a keynote speaker at the National Consultative Policy Dialogue on Plastic Waste Management on Sunday, Aslam emphasised that the incumbent government is committed to tackling the growing environmental menace of plastic waste.

“It has taken several policy and legal measures in this regard under the Prime Minister Imran Khan's vision for Clean Green Pakistan and sustainable consumption and production initiatives for achieving environmentally-sound sustainable development,” he said.

Yet these efforts are unlikely to achieve any desired results as long as the various stakeholders involved in manufacturing, sale and use of plastic materials play their part towards plastic waste management, PM's aide cautioned the participants from various national and international organisations involved in plastic manufacturing, use and plastic packaging of various products.

Aslam highlighted that large-scale plastic waste, which accounts for a significant share in overall municipal waste, is generated in the country as a result of use of various products of beverage companies and urged the firms to exhibit responsibility to retrieve their plastic waste and recycle it under their extended responsibility measures.

The PM's aide Malik Amin also recalled that there has been enhanced engagements with companies, selling products in plastic bags, to ensure their plastic waste at the tail-end level in neighbourhood markets is also collected and recycled properly as part of the government's measures for tackling municipal waste and the problem of choking of drains. dna

 

Published in The Express Tribune, February 22^nd, 2021.