Daily Times

LAHORE: The World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan (WWF-Pakistan) at its 6th Annual Green Office Network meeting called for urgent need to swiftly translate sustainability strategies and best practices to reduce plastic debris into Pakistan’s actionable development plans.

Aimed to turn the tide and solve the excessive plastic waste problems that each one of us creates on a daily basis, the meeting was held at a local hotel on Tuesday.

The event was attended by corporate partners, public sector leaders, academia and industry practitioners from across Pakistan. The keynote address was given by environmental lawyer Rafay Alam, who discussed prevailing laws regarding plastic consumption and its alternatives in Pakistan. Hassan Sipra, Scientific Officer, Centre for Climate Research and Development, COMSATS, shared a deep dive synthesis of his research on the informal waste sector of Lahore or plastics waste management in Pakistan.

According to Hammad Naqi Khan, Director General, WWF- Pakistan said, “Using large quantities of single use plastics day after day is clearly devastating for our oceans. It is important to start focusing on how to phase out single use plastics in a more sustainable manner instead of only thinking of end of pipe solutions such as recycling or waste disposal. Both governments and companies must to work together to minimise plastic waste.”

He added that according to some estimates, around 6.4 million tonnes of trash, which mostly contains plastic, is dumped in the world’s oceans every year. Around 90 per cent of sea birds take in plastic, he said adding that fish and other animals are also not spared as they consume microplastic or become entangled in plastic debris. Hammad further said that if plastic bags, bottles, toys and packaging material are not disposed of properly, they reach the sea and damage coastal ecosystems. The ocean is expected to contain one tonne of plastic for every three tonnes of fish by 2025 and by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in oceans globally, he said.

On the occasion, Minister for Environment Protection Begum Zakia Shah Nawaz Khan said, “Efforts of the government alone cannot have a significant outcome unless the public shows interest and gets involved in reducing plastic consumption. People should shift from disposable plastics to reusable material like cloth bags. If we do not take up this issue now, it will be devastating for all living beings.”

Nazifa Butt, Manager Environmental Assessment/ Green Office Initiative, said, “Our dependency on plastics has increased over the past decade, it’s time that civil society realises the importance of not using plastics and chooses alternatives. WWF-Pakistan through the Green Office Initiative is also educating the corporate sector about plastic waste and encourages plastic recycling initiatives.”

The event was followed by an awards ceremony for Green Offices with best performances in reduction of their carbon footprint.

Published in Daily Times, November 1^st 2017.