‘Pakistan is the second-largest domestic market for plastic, recycling 3% instead of potential 18%,’ UNEP Chief
She further added that on an annual basis, around 400 million tons of plastic products are generated, and out of this, 300 million tons end up in global waste and baskets.
According to researchers, Pakistan is currently the second-largest domestic market for plastic, despite having very limited recycling potential.
The Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Inger Andersen, said that the country is the second largest domestic market for plastic, but it has a limited recycling potential of 18%. However, out of that, only 3% of plastic is currently being recycled in Pakistan.
Pakistan’s domestic plastic market
Andersen revealed these statistics while delivering a guest lecture on ‘Environmental governance in addressing plastic pollution and the role of CSOs,’ at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI).
She further added that on an annual basis, around 400 million tons of plastic products are generated, and out of this, 300 million tons end up in global waste and baskets. Similarly, this causes a big hazard to the environment. The UNEP chief also said that the use of plastic has made our daily life much easier, and her organization isn’t anti-plastic but it is ‘anti-plastic in the environment.’
However, one plastic becomes a part of the economy, it has to be kept in a cycle, instead of being used once and then disposed of in the water, where it ends up in landfills, etc. While highlighting the infiltration of plastic in our daily lives, and the value-chain, she suggested that the public should be a part of the solution.
Andersen laid emphasis on the dire need of legislation to govern the plastic content, reduce waste and improve recycling. Likewise, even if the plastic product is recycled mechanically or checmically, they have to ensure that it does not come with cost and chemical recycling, especially with a huge carbon footprint.
The Chairperson of SDPI BoG, Shafqat Kakakhel, said that out of the total 9 billion tons of plastic waste produced since 1950s, 7 billion tons is circulatign in different forms in landfills, water bodies and dumps.
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informative post. keep it up! thanks
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