TIO BHOPAL
Plastic pollution is choking cities and rural areas across India and Pakistan, piling up in landfills, choking streams and drainage ditches, poisoning animals and polluting farm fields.
Despite some efforts to ban single-use plastics, the problem remains a huge menace to public health, wildlife and the environment, experts said, suggesting urgent joint efforts to check it.
“Plastic pollution has emerged as the biggest challenge for mankind. It poses grave health hazards and destroys the environment beyond repair. The menace of plastic pollution is very lethal,” said Ajay Dubey, a prominent green activist in India.
While India has set a global example by banning manufacturing, sale and use of 19 single-use plastic items like earbuds, plastic sticks for balloons, plates, cups and straws from July 1, 2022, the country still generates 3.5 million tonnes of plastic waste annually, and the per capita plastic waste generation has almost doubled over the last five years, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav had said in April 2022.
“Plastic pollution is known for causing a lot of problems in urban areas. It chokes sewage and drainage pipes, causes diseases in people and in animals too. Now plastic pollution is fast spreading in rural areas as well,” Dubey said.
In Pakistan, plastics account for 65 percent of the total waste, according to a report by WWF Pakistan (https://www.wwfpak.org/issues/plastic_pollution/), which describes itself as one of the largest conservation organisations in Pakistan. Some 55bn plastic bags are being used in the country with an expected annual increase of 15 percent in their usage, the report says.
As much as 65 per cent of waste that ends up on beaches along Pakistan’s coast and includes water bottles, caps, plastic bags and packaging, the report says. An estimated 8 million tons of plastic waste enters the oceans every year.
“There are so many impacts of plastic pollution. There are 12 big cities in Pakistan in which 60-70 percent of the population of the country lives. Plastic chokes sewage lines as they don’t get decayed. If sewage lines get damaged, they pollute the freshwater or jam the drainage system which in turn results in health hazards. There is a direct health impact of plastic pollution in urban areas,” said Nadeem Ahmad, Climate Change Policy manager at British High Commission, Islamabad.
He said rivers are affected due to plastic pollution in rural areas.
“Plastic pollution also disturbs crop production. Plastic pollution is like air pollution. Immediately one may not realize its effect, but in the long run, its harmful health hazards are quite visible,” Ahmad said.
Experts in both countries called for swift action to tackle this growing problem.
“India and Pakistan need to take immediate steps to regulate authorised and unauthorised production of plastics and its usage. There is an urgent need to make people aware about the serious impact of plastic pollution which is causing irreparable damage to the environment,” Dubey said.
Drowning in solid waste
Solid waste management has emerged as the biggest challenge for the civil authorities for many cities in India and Pakistan, experts and individuals have said.
For instance, people living near landfill sites in India’s capital city of Delhi say the situation due to growing waste, especially the plastic one, is worsening with every passing day.
“I have been living here for the past many years. The situation is worsening day by day. The mound of garbage, formed from the waste collected from Delhi, is increasing. It is horrifying to live in places like such. Administration must find a viable solution to deal with the waste,” said Abhinav Singh, who lives near the Ghazipur landfill site in Delhi.
Many residents living close to the “mountain of garbage sites” are thinking of moving to other places as well.
“There is a continuous foul smell in the area. At times, there is fire in the dump waste. This mountain of waste is troublesome. I am facing breathing issues and other health problems because of it. I now plan to move to another safe locality,” said an apparently worried resident Chetan Rathore.
Commissioned in 1984, the Ghazipur landfill is the biggest garbage dump in Delhi and it holds over 140 lakh tons of waste. The other two sites are Bhalswa and Okhla landfills started in 1994.
The National Green Tribunal, which adjudicates environment-related matters, had in April this year expressed serious concern over fire incidents at Ghazipur landfill site in Delhi saying dump sites are like “time bombs”.
It had said that the dump sites in Delhi and in other cities are like “time bombs” because they constantly generate explosive gases like methane which may escape through vertical and lateral ways posing a constant threat of explosion.
The Ghazipur landfill site is spread across 70 acres. Efforts are on by the authorities concerned to ground this ‘heap of mountain’.
Pakistan generates approximately 49.6 million tons of solid waste a year, which has been increasing more than 2.4 percent annually, according to the International Trade Administration (ITA), Department of Commerce, United States of America.
( https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/pakistan-waste-management )
Like other developing countries, Pakistan lacks waste management infrastructure, creating serious environmental problems, said an article dated January 27, 2022, posted on ITA website.
Most municipal waste is either burned, dumped, or buried on vacant lots, threatening the health and welfare of the general population, it said.
The Government of Pakistan estimates that 87,000 tons of solid waste is generated per week, mostly from major metropolitan areas, the article said.
“Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, generates more than 16,500 tons of municipal waste daily. All major cities face enormous challenges on how to manage urban waste. Bureaucratic hurdles, lack of urban planning, inadequate waste management equipment, and low public awareness contribute to the problem,” it reads.
Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, utilizes three sanitary landfill sites, while Lahore, the country’s second-largest city, has two, the ITA said.
Other major cities plan to build proper landfill sites. In many areas, solid waste is simply dumped outside the city limits. Solid waste management capabilities and systems vary by province.
In Punjab, Lahore is the only city with a proper solid waste management, treatment, and disposal system, which was outsourced to Turkish companies Albayrak and OzPak, it said.
Similar systems are planned for secondary cities in Punjab province. In Sindh, the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Infrastructure and Service Delivery Reform Program has provided $400 million (in 2019) to the Sindh Cities Improvement Investment Program (SCIP), which aims to improve solid waste management services in 20 secondary cities and has issued tenders for a wide range of waste management projects, the article said.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Water and Sanitation Services Peshawar (WSSP) is planning to build a sanitary landfill. Baluchistan, with a population of 6.9 million, has no significant infrastructure for the waste management system, it said.
Much of Pakistan’s solid waste does not reach final disposal sites. In developed countries, most solid waste generated winds up in landfills, incinerators, or other recycling centers. In Pakistan, much of the waste generated is recovered for recycling, mostly by scavengers, before it ever reaches disposal points, the article pointed out.
Plastics manufacturing continues
Various manufacturing industries across the globe produce 400 million tonnes of plastic waste per year, with the packaging industry being the largest contributor, according to a report from the Central Pollution Control Board of India.
The Indian plastic industry market is one of the leading sectors in the country, according to the Indian Brand Equity Foundation.
( https://www.ibef.org/exports/plastic-industry-india )
The industry is present across the country and has more than 2,000 exporters. It employs more than 4 million people in the country and constitutes 30,000 processing units; among these, 85-90% belong to small and medium enterprises, it said in an article last updated in July 2022.
India manufactures various products such as plastics and linoleum, houseware products, cordage, fishnets, floor coverings, medical items, packaging items, plastic films, pipes, raw material, etc.
The country majorly exports plastic raw materials, films, sheets, woven sacks, fabrics, and tarpaulin.
The Government of India intends to take the plastic industry from a current level of Rs. 3 lakh crores (US$ 37.8 billion) of economic activity to Rs. 10 lakh crores (US$ 126 billion) in 4-5 years, it said in an article.
Ten plastic parks have been approved in India by the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals.
Among these, six plastic parks have received final approval from the following states – Madhya Pradesh (2 parks), Assam (1 park), Tamil Nadu (1 park), Odisha (1 park) and Jharkhand (1 park). These parks are intended to boost employment and attain environmentally sustainable growth, according to the article.
The cumulative exports of plastics and related materials during 2021-22 were valued at US$ 13.34 billion, it said.
This was a 33.4% increase from the 2019-20 exports valued at US$ 10 billion.
Plastic raw materials were the largest exported category and constituted 30.7% of the total exports in 2021-22; it recorded a growth of 26.5% over the previous year, the article said.
Plastic films and sheets were the second largest category, comprising 15.2% of the total exports, and grew 32.7% over the previous year, it said.
The plastics industry in Pakistan is one of the oldest in the country and its existence can be traced out even in the year 1947 when Pakistan came into being, according to the plastemart.com website, which describes itself as the world’s leading B2B marketplace, — http://atozplastics.com/upload/literature/pakistan.asp — .
“The plastics industry in Pakistan has taken great strides in its quest for its success. Today plastics material constitutes as the fourth largest item of imports and this sector alone contributes significantly to the national exchequer in different heads,” it says.
The industry is growing at an annual average of 15% and in the process of development it has surpassed all other industrial sectors, the website says.
“The per capita consumption in the country has also shown an upward trend during the last 15 years [except post 9/11 events and standoff with India]. Today the domestic consumption of plastics stands at 2.7 kgs, far less than the international average, yet Pakistan is the second largest domestic market in South East Asia after India,” read an undated article by Fayyaz A Chaudhry, Secretary of Pakistan Plastics Manufacturers Association, posted on the website.
Solutions to the plastics problem
What are the solutions to such a widespread problem? Experts in both countries suggested setting up a common task force, raising awareness among the masses, setting environment-friendly standards for plastic-producing industries, creating tough laws to check littering of plastics, and following global best processes to safely dispose of millions of tonnes of plastic waste getting generated in both the nations annually.
Some opined taxing plastic production as a probable solution to tackle the growing plastic waste crisis.
WWF Pakistan has been trying to tackle the issue of plastic pollution through various interventions. One of the major focuses of WWF is to create nationwide awareness through advocacy campaigns, seminars and conducting beach cleaning activities.
It has also been encouraging innovative ideas for countering plastics pollution and has funded startups, which are focusing on recycling.
Even Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had last month also asked people to use non-plastic bags.
“We have seen that polythene bags are also being used a lot for packing and packaging during festivals. The harmful litter of polythene on the festivals observing cleanliness is also against the spirit of our festivals.
“Therefore, we should use only locally made non-plastic bags. The trend of jute, cotton, banana fibre, and many such traditional bags is on the rise once again. It is our duty to promote them on the occasion of festivals, and take care of our health and environment along with cleanliness,” Modi had said in his monthly radio broadcast (titled ‘Mann Ki Baat’) on September 25.
In neighbouring Pakistan, experts too have suggested replacing plastic products with environment-friendly biodegradable items.
“People should also take action in supplementing government efforts in checking plastic pollution. We need to educate people and at the same time we need to check its production. If demand is less (from people’s side), then naturally its production would automatically be less,” said Ahmad, the Climate Change Policy manager in Islamabad.
Shabnam Baloch, Country Director of International Rescue Committee, Islamabad-based non-government organization said plastic pollution is affecting each and everybody.
“Most nations in the world have banned plastic. There was a discourse on banning it in Pakistan as well. Overall waste, especially plastic waste, has a very bad effect on the environment, on individual’s health and also on the infrastructure of the cities,” she said.
Naseer Memon, climate change expert at Strengthening Participatory Organization (SPO), another Islamabad-based NGO, cited lack of regulation as the primary reasons to check the growing menace of plastic pollution.
“The problem is of regulation. There was an announcement in Islamabad about two years ago that there will not be plastic bags but one made of clothes. But at present you find plastic bags easily everywhere,” he said.
Memon said there is no rocket science that plastic products cannot be checked.
“There are environmentally friendly products, which are as good as plastic ones, available too. The impact of plastic pollution is very severe. We see these effects in our day to day lives. But we do not take them seriously,” he said.
Memon said bags made of paper have been used for years in this country.
“Nobody had any problem. All these plastics have come afterwards (after people started using paper bags and other such items). Many nations have replaced plastic bags. If they can do it, we can also do it,” he added.
The world generates around 350 million tonnes of plastic waste per year. That means that around 2% of waste is traded, according to an article dated October 11, 2022 written by Hannah Ritchie and shared on the website of Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN).
