KARACHI:More than 3.3 million tons of plastic is wasted each year in Pakistan and most of it ends up in landfills, unmanaged dumps or strewn about land and water bodies across the country damaging the environment and people’s health. Pakistan has one of the highest percentage of mismanaged plastic in South Asia. The country is vulnerable to the effects of climate change which has occurred due to rapid industrialization and population growth.

As things stand, the country is at a crossroads for a much warmer world.

This was stated at a seminar organized by National Forum for Environment and Heath (NFEH) at a local hotel in Karachi on Monday to celebrate the World Environment Day. The theme of the World Environment Day was to ‘Beat the Plastic Pollution’.

Speaking on the occasion, NFEH President Muhammad Naeem Qureshi welcomed the guests to the seminar. He said that NFEH was working to mitigate Climate Change and Plastic Pollution since years. “We have started work on tree plantation from 2015. We are also arranging beach cleaning time to time. We also run environment awareness programs on Radio and TV.

He said that plastic pollution has become a serious issue in Pakistan, so it should be tackled effectively. He said that single used of plastic must be avoided while reuse and recycling of the plastic should be enhanced to reduce plastic pollution in the country and everyone individual should contribute its efforts in this regard.

Shabina Faraz, the Chief of Green Media Initiatives, said that climate change is not only affecting social life but also harming mental health. Women are more effected by climate change as compared to men as they have to travel even five miles to fetch water to their homes and have to work in agriculture fields amid warming weather. She said that Pakistan is responsible for less than 1% of the world’s greenhouse gases emission, but is paying more price and is suffering too much.

Shariq Vohra, former KCCI President, stressed the need to enhance recycling of used plastic material as it is only solution to control plastic pollution. He said the first step to beat plastic pollution is to move from single-use to reusable plastic products and increase the use of recycled plastics.

Ali Akbar, an environment expert, said that they were working in environment protection filed and has been planting trees in Karachi in close association with NFEH. We are also working on water conservation and waste management. We aware women at homes to collect domestic waste, separate the types waste material and dispose of them at designated places so as to keep the environment clean and green.

Saquib Ejaz Hussain, Chief Executive Officer, EHS Services, said his presentation said that more than 3.3 million tons of plastic is wasted each year in Pakistan. The country has one of the highest percentage of mismanaged plastic in South Asia. He said that micro plastic is found in air and water in massive quantity, which directly goes to human body, causing respiratory diseases.

He said that environment, social value and economy are three main pillars for achieving sustainable development goals but in Pakistan, all the three are unbalanced. He said that urgent steps should be taken to tackle rising plastic pollution in the country.

KMC Administrator Saifur Rehman said that almost all the systems run on plastic use as it is one of the revolutionary and historical invention in this world. It has replaced the use of iron, brass and other items at larger level. However, he added that tackling plastic pollution is mandatory for improving environment.

He said that in the past, people were not taking interest in environment as they believed that there is no reality in environment, but presently, tackling environment has become mandatory. He stressed the need to reuse and recycle plastic to control plastic pollution.