Baba Mithu is a bit of an environmentalist. The 61-year-old scrap dealer from Gulberg II, Lahore, takes used or reusable items to those who can recycle them. As such, he contributes to making the city clean and green.

His method is simple: he purchases usable leftovers, sells them at the auctions, and keeps the proceeds.

He’s split his warehouse into two broad sections: one is meant for the rubbish connected to paper, the other is for plastic. Besides, he has designated areas for steel, iron and electronic items that have been surrendered or overused. A team of largely young men work diligently to maintain the warehouse. They sort the items, assign them grades based on the brand of each item, their (apparent) condition and their estimated worth. They are also supposed to attend to customers.

Mithu purchases the waste items from scavengers and trash collectors. He tells TNS, “Those who collect old newspapers, plastic and cane bottles, and iron and steel objects from your home sell [those items] to me.”

He adds that he allows them “a good margin. For example, a stack of old newspapers bought at the rate of Rs 30-40 per kg, lands at my workstation at the rate of Rs 120 per kg. Similarly, I purchase plastic bottles that would be bought for pennies, at the rate of Rs 200 per kg.”

He frequently gets used home equipment like fans and computers. These items require some haggling, he admits. “Everyone claims to be selling a functional item. That’s where a quick, real-time test or a mechanic’s expert opinion comes in handy.”

According to the Ministry of Climate Change’s National Waste Management Policy, 2022, Pakistan generates 30 million tonnes of solid waste annually. Additionally, 80,000 tonnes of rubbish is imported and dumped in Pakistan, creating health and environment hazards besides poisoning the surface and groundwater supplies.

A small percentage of the waste ends up at scrap dealers’ shops across the country. Most of it goes to landfill sites or is left unattended on the roadsides, thrown in drains, or dumped in vacant plots of land. Waste materials that may be reused or recycled are good, but waste left to decay poses a serious challenge.

Every month, Baba Mithu purchases 1,500 to 2,000 kilogrammes of old newspapers from neighbourhoods in Gulberg II. “Till about a decade ago, over 3,000 kilogrammes [of old newspapers] would be available to us every month. Not anymore.” He attributes this to the stark decrease in demand for print newspapers in the digital age.

Pakistan generates 30 million tonnes of solid waste annually. Of this, a small percentage ends up at scrap dealers’ shops across the country. Most of the waste goes to landfill sites or is left unattended on the roadsides, thrown into drains, or dumped in vacant plots.

Mithu makes sure that the discarded items are returned to their original locations. “The used soft drink bottles are bought by the beverage firms or their manufacturing plants to recycle them into fresh bottles. Likewise, the packaging companies purchase the packing mateial. Old cans get a new life in the hands of their manufacturers,” he says.

The steel factories in Misri Shah are another stop for Mithu’s steel and iron waste products. He regrets that second- and third-hand gadgets have no takers. “My boys open each and every electric item and piece them apart. These parts are then purchased by the dealers.”

DROP CAP

Dr Rizwan, assistant professor of sociology at Punjab University, Lahore, is of the view that waste management is not taken seriously in the country. According to him, Pakistan lacks the capacity to handle the waste it produces. Only a few cities have functional landfills, and most urban and semi-urban areas do not have trash collection and processing infrastructure in place.

In this scenario, private individuals like Baba Mithu are doing for the environment just what the doctor ordered, by contributing to the process of recycling of waste materials.

Though his employees are not quite aware of the consequences of dealing with hazardous waste materials, they know that trash can be valuable.

Shamim Azam, a teacher trainer, educates his students on how to use local resources. According to him, recycling needs to be made more popular among children so that there are fewer production and disposal challenges. “I’ve noticed that children are inventive recyclers. They only require encouragement and guidance. This is achievable once teachers become competent recyclers.”

The Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) is working to unlock the waste’s latent electricity. On the LWMC website, it is stated that producing electricity from the municipal solid waste and reducing trash volume by up to 80 percent are both parts of the company’s waste disposal process. ECOAIR, a US-based waste-to-energy (WtE) company, was retained as the project’s official consultant. Later, the Punjab Power Development Board sent a letter of interest to a Chinese company as an independent power producer for the creation of a WtE project totalling about 40 MW. For the 40 MW WtE project, the LWMC promised to provide 2,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste on a daily basis. For subsequent projects, the LWMC promised to provide 3,000 tonnes of waste per day.

It’s time ordinary the citizens started discovering the joys of recycling. The results can be fantastic.

The writer is a media veteran interested in politics, consumer rights and entrepreneurship