Solid Waste, a Hazard or an Economic Opportunity for Pakistan
Pakistan's diverse beauty and bounty unfolds along travel routes from north to south, mesmerizing travellers globally. Yet amidst these picturesque landscapes, the pervasive litter scattered across streets, fields, streams and riverbanks from Chitral to Chaman - from Kachura (in Skardu) to Karachi paints a bleak picture of human neglect to the natural beauty.
According to the Waste Management update by International Trade Administration, Pakistan generates nearly 49.6 million tons of solid waste annually. In big cities, 60% of the solid waste is collected dailyi, while 40% remains in empty plots, street corners, abandoned buildings, open drains and nullahs. In rural areas, where Municipal services often not operational, nearly all the garbage stays there in the open fields, rainwater streams, street corners and elsewhere. Even 60% of waste collected by municipal authorities of big cities is disposed of in few of the landfill sites, meaning we are filling our land and water sources with 49.6 million tons of waste every year. If we continue producing and irresponsibly dumping waste at this rate, future generations will have little land free of litter for food production and housing.
Dr. Ahktar Hameed Khan (Late), the legendary development guru of South Asia who transformed one of the largest urban slums of Asia into Orangi Town Karachi, once said, “I did not remove the garbage from the streets of Orangi rather I made people to smell it.” The question now is who will make the policy makers, influencers and the public to see and smell the obnoxious odour of the waste scattered all around us. Why we have become complacent to live with the heaps of litters around us? Why do we continue to throw household and commercial waste into open fields, nullahs, streams and rivers without thinking? Why we all are turning our country that is endowed with beautiful and fertile land into a wasteland?
While the issue appears to be a community behavior, a deeper analysis shows that behavioral change is needed at all levels. Policymakers and government executives must first understand the gravity of unmanaged waste across Pakistan. Several factors highlight the need for this change:
This need for change in behaviours of policy makers is manifested in a number of factors. For instance, there is no national policy framework that provides strategic guidance to provincial governments and relevant authorities to enact contextualized polices, action plans and laws to ensure sustainable solid waste management through an integrated approach. There is also no mechanism at national and provincial level that provides credible information on the amount and type of solid waste produced, collected and sustainably managed.
This is evident as different national and international reports provide different figures regarding the volume and type of solid waste generated in Pakistan. The issue has also been reiterated in a report on “Waste Management in Pakistan”ii. It is because of this reason that we don’t see dedicated budgetary allocation regarding solid waste management or sanitation in totality in Public Sector Development Plans or Annual Development Plans of the provincial government through a number of the following factors:
The prioritisation of this issue by policy makers in the sectoral policies and plans will certainly cascade in the changing behaviour of other stakeholders such as private sector, print, electronic and social media, waste producers and communities. The private sector (particularly Fast-Moving Consumer Goods) can undertake a number of small initiatives with little or no investment to act socially and environmentally responsible entities by reforming their corporate values and policies to prevent and minimize generation of solid waste which is not biodegradable. The private sector can also promote a positive messaging on product packaging to encourage food wastage prevention, safe disposal of packaging material, segregation of organic and inorganic waste, and the reuse and recycle of the packaging material.
There is a strong need for engagement of social media influencers, teachers, religious leaders, and activists to actively promote waste reduction, reuse, and recycling. A study on the role of social media on recycling behaviouriii has shown that influence of social media and NGOs intervention can cultivate recycling behaviour among the wider community. Recent outreach of social media across Pakistan provides opportunity to the influencers to leverage their platforms and influence for inspiring the general public to adopt responsible waste disposal as well as advocate with district and provincial governments for formulation of costed strategies for sustainable solid waste management.
Solid waste is a perennial hazard if remained unmanaged but it’s a gold mine if managed sustainably. The policy makers, influencers and masses need to realize now that mismanaged solid waste is ensuing and catalyzing recurring disasters in Pakistan such as epidemics, flooding and food insecurity. It also adds to the operational costs of municipal authorities. However, if managed sustainably, the solid waste can rejuvenate the national and local economy.
The circular economy heavily relies on the solid waste which has the potential of generating USD 1.2 billion per annumiv for Pakistan; and it can create thousands of jobs in this industry. However, since segregation of organic and inorganic waste is not practiced at all by communities, private sector and government entities, so, most of the solid waste remains untapped by the actors of circular economy.
The sustainable management of solid waste can not only help harnessing full potential of circular economy in Pakistan, but it can also help Government save millions of dollars annually that are spent on operating costs for municipal services, spending on emergency response and losses caused by urban flooding (as result of chocked sewerage system and rain-water streams) as well as saving on health-related expenditures.
We need to realize individual and collectively as a society the economic, social and environmental benefits of disposing off solid waste responsibly and sustainably. Studies have shown that the countries where people dispose of their waste responsibly led to reduced municipal operating costs (eventually the municipally taxes levied on the residents), reduced healthcare costs through fewer dumpsites, healthier living conditions, preservation of land and real estate and increasing its market value; beautification of landscapes leading to increased tourism and inward investment. For instance, Sweden recycles 47% of its waste and uses 52% for energy, leaving only 1% for landfills. Pakistan must realize the economic, social, and environmental benefits of responsible waste management.
The learnings from developed countries like Sweden evince that solid waste (if managed sustainably through integrated policy-driven approaches) can contribute to strengthening economy of Pakistan around various spheres like increased land agriculture productivity, increased job-creation around circular economy, increased energy production and reduction in damages and losses related to climate induced disasters.
It is high time for the Government to harness the economic potential of solid waste through formulating a national policy framework that guides the provinces to formulate their contextualized policies, strategies and action plan to ensure that coherent system of solid waste management is in place from community level to the district government level that promotes (through behaviour change communications, engagement of all key stakeholders and enforcement of necessary laws) prevention and reduction of plastic waste, segregation of organic and inorganic waste and promotion of reuse and recycle. Engagement of private sector for reduction of inorganic waste and safe disposal of industrial waste should be ensured through strong institutional mechanism. However, policies and plans can only be formulated and implemented if we have a comprehensive data management system at the national level. This system must be integrated with provincial and district governments and municipal authorities. It should include information about the amount and type of waste generated. It must also track how waste is reused, recycled, used for compost, incinerated, or dumped at scientifically safe landfill sites. Asian Development Bank (ADB) has already recommendedv in its reform roadmap for solid waste management that Ministry of Climate Change is best placed to set up a data collection system at the federal level to get data on the amounts of waste generated, its composition, and the methods of waste disposal.
Article Authored by: Mr. Muhammad Fazal, Head of Programme Strategy and Policy, WaterAid Pakistan
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References:
i(n.d.). Pakistan - Market Overview. [online] www.trade.gov. Available at: https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/pakistan-market-overview?section-nav=3640.
iiShafique, Dr.S. and Clark, T. (2022). Waste management in Pakistan. [online] The European Commission; The SWITCH-Asia Programme. Available at: https://www.switch-asia.eu/site/assets/files/3378/waste_management_in_pakistan_final.pdf.
iiiSujata, Muniandy, Kuan-Siew Khor, Thurasamy Ramayah, and Ai Ping Teoh. 2019. “The Role of Social Media on Recycling Behaviour.” Sustainable Production and Consumption 20 (October): 365–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2019.08.005.
ivAzad, A.R. (2024). ‘Circular economy’: Country can generate $1.2bn by utilising plastic waste. [online] Business Recorder. Available at: https://www.brecorder.com/news/40287128#:~:text=Pakistan
vBank, A.D. (2022). Solid Waste Management Sector in Pakistan: A Reform Road Map for Policy Makers. [online] www.adb.org. Asian Development Bank. Available at: https://www.adb.org/publications/solid-waste-management-pakistan-road-map.