Staff Reporter
Islamabad
Pakistan’s first ever research study (baseline scoping study) for plastic waste management, conducted by WWF-Pakistan with support of The Coca-Cola Foundation, was launched during a special ceremony on Wednesday, in Islamabad. Ms. Zartaj Gul, Minister of State for Climate Change was the Guest of Honour.
This scoping study report is the outcome of a joint realization by Coca-Cola and WWF-Pakistan to map out Pakistan’s current plastic waste generation and management supply chain. And further, to identify current perceptions and opinions of key stakeholders with regards to plastic waste generation, segregation, collection and disposal.
These include the informal sector comprising scavengers, junk dealers and recyclers; the formal waste collectors such as public and private waste management companies; the commercial sector comprising of hotels, educational institutes, restaurants; and lastly household consumers of PET bottles. Data was collected through interviews and survey questionnaire to analyze PET consumption, collection, disposal and recycling patterns in 10 selected cities across Pakistan. These included Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, Peshawar, Gilgit, Murree, Rahim Yar Khan, Multan, Gujranwala and Faisalabad.
The event was also attended by Ms. Naheed Shah Durrani, Secretary at the Ministry of Climate Change, Fahad Ashraf, VP & General Manager for Pakistan and Afghanistan region at The Coca-Cola Export Corporation, Hammad Naqi Khan, CEO at WWF-Pakistan, Dr. Masood Arshad, Senior Director Water, Food & Climate at WWF-Pakistan, representatives from UNDP, CDA, GIZ, Federal Environment Protection Agency and members of Pakistan’s first plastic packaging alliance CoRe as guests.
