Pakistan’s 49.6m tonnes solid waste termed potential source of energy

Islamabad:Pakistan’s annually generated 49.6 million metric tonnes 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’ organised 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, the Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, Muhammad Farooq in his opening remarks said waste management was a complex issue that demanded multi-sectoral 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.

He said, “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 of polythene and plastic bags.” 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. Executive Director, SDPI, Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri said the forum was convened to provide first-hand 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.

Living Indus Initiative Team Lead, Humaira Jahanzeb provided a comprehensive presentation on the project. She said 90 per cent of the country’s population and three-quarters of the economy reside along the Indus River and irrigates 80% of the country’s arable land.

“Living Indus Initiative is a collaboration and umbrella initiative of MoCC and the UN. It looks at the ecological restoration of the Indus to bring it back to its original position. It’s a strategy with 25 interventions, that required $11-17 billion over the next 5-15, falling around key thematic areas of governance, pollution, finance, livelihood, awareness and others,” she said. Programme Officer, International Environmental Technology Centre, Economy Division, UNEP, Dr Shunichi Honda said the programme was working on waste management at the global level which was part of every individual''s daily life.

He said the UNEP was going to launch the global e-waste monitor that would help guide decision and policy-making initiatives throu­gh scientific data, whereas the Asia E-waste monitor was being launched.

Associate Research Fellow, SDPI, Zainab Naeem said the country was generating around 49.6 million metric tonnes of waste which makes it a priority issue for the government to manage it as a resource. She added that the country had adequate legislation but lacked any national institution to manage waste. Dr Akhtar Hameed Khan Memorial Trust (AHKMT) CEO Sumaira Gul said, “Waste collection is not a problem but rather management. The Trust has introduced the South Asian model that first piloted resource recovery model in 2014 that was scaled up at ten sites which could be replicated under the Living Indus Initiative,” she added.