Zero Waste: The Key to Solving Pakistan’s Waste Crisis
Sustainable approaches to manage solid waste pose a major challenge globally for waste management organizations, particularly developing countries due to the linear pattern of resource use and waste generation. The increasing worldwide call to reduce and manage waste as a resource finally convinced the United Nations in 2023 to declare March 30 as International Day of Zero Waste as an annual global event.
According to World Bank estimates, Pakistan produces over 48.5 million tons of solid waste annually, of which about 20 million tons come from major cities alone. The country faces unprecedented challenge to effectively manage excess waste due to increasing population, rapid urbanization, and wasteful lifestyle. The situation is compounded by lack of resources and infrastructure, in conjunction with unsustainable waste collection and disposal systems, and has resulted in the piling up of destructive waste and polluting public areas, waterways, and open spaces.
Solid waste produced in Pakistan is mainly composed of food waste, animal waste, plant parts, plastics, rubber, paper, glass, metal, etc. The current practice of waste disposal which begins with resource extraction to destructive disposal, Pakistan can choose to tap into alternative waste management models which are nature friendly and circular in nature.
Among the unconventional approaches, Zero Waste (ZW) is an emerging holistic waste management model which considers the overall social structure of how we manufacture products, consume, and dispose of them as waste. According to the internally accepted peer reviewed definition by Zero Waste International Alliance (ZWIA),
“Zero waste is the conservation of all resources by means of responsible production, consumption, reuse, and recovery of products, packaging, and materials without burning and with no discharges to land, water, or air that threaten the environment or human health.”
The central dogma of the ZW model is its waste hierarchy, a list of priority actions, also called 3RS, (reduction, reuse, and recycle) which effectively designs out waste and pollution, keeps products and materials in use and regenerate natural systems. The Zero Waste Models practiced around the world underscore the following common key features:
- ZW requires community owned policies that are aligned with their values and priorities, to ensure responsible use of natural resources, participation from all stakeholders, investment in conservation of nature and resource recovery. It expects empowering communities through education and technical assistance to result a system change.
- ZW Model prioritizes shifting our collective mindset away from resource wastage towards embracing accountability for the Earth and its future.
- The manufacturers are accountable for the entire life cycle of their products but at the same time are incentivized to rethink and design environmentally friendly products which can minimize their production and disposal cost.
- The ZW model requires infrastructure which enables maximum recovery of from discards as resources through reuse, recycling, and composting.
Zero waste is now a global movement, and governments, organizations and communities are increasingly transitioning from linear to zero waste system to achieve their green targets. Zero Waste International Alliance (ZWIA) found in 2003 is among the strongest global efforts to promote the implementation of Zero-Waste practices around the globe. The best ZW example is the story of Capannori town of Italy, where a grassroot Zero waste community movement transitioned it from open waste dumping and burning to a highest recycling town in Europe. The United Nation Environment Program (UNEP) in its 2023 report for Global South highlights the significance of adopting zero waste model and its positive impact on delivering at least seventeen different UN-SDGs.
Pakistan can transition its waste management practices towards a circular economy by adopting ZW system and using the experience of other countries to develop its policy. The strategy to transition to a ZW Society should begin with first accepting it as a potential solution to our waste problem and the future of circular economy and including it in our climate action policy. Secondly conscious investment is needed in infrastructure and technology to recover resources from waste streams and with the help of private sector establish recycling facilities for materials such as plastics, paper, glass, and metals, creating a closed-loop system where these materials are reused in manufacturing processes. Organic waste is a major portion of the total waste generated in Pakistan which can be converted to fertilizer, animal feed and energy by investing in composting bioenergy facility. Equally important is encouraging producers to adopt eco-design principles among manufacturers to produce goods that are durable, repairable, and recyclable.
Adopting ZW system will require Pakistan to invest in developing supportive policies and regulations to facilitate the transition to a circular economy, including incentives for circular business models, tax breaks for recycling initiatives. At the same time, Pakistan needs to implement extended producer responsibility (EPR) policies that hold producers accountable for their unsustainable practices. Finally, raising public awareness about the whole ZW concept, it benefits to economy, health, and environment is also key. This can be achieved by involving academia, community organizations, and businesses to bring behavior change and participation in circular initiatives.
Educational institutions in Pakistan can play important role not only adopt sustainable ways to manage their own waste, but they can also act as an agent of change for the wider society to sensitize, educate and mobilize communities around them to fulfil their civic responsibility. National University of Medical Sciences (NUMS) is the first institution in Pakistan which formally adopted Zero Waste pledge in 2021 with a comprehensive ZW Policy (https://numspak.edu.pk/eco/) and became the first and only institution from Pakistan to become Organizational Affiliate of ZWIA.
A pioneering initiative led by a consortium of leading universities representing each region of Pakistan launched Zero Waste Alliance Pakistan (ZWAP) on June 11, 2024. The consortium aims to help advocate, promote and implement ZW practices/programs in the wider community by collaborating with different stakeholders including academic institutions, policy makers, industry, businesses and environmental organizations.
In order for Pakistan to transition to a ZW Society, the government bodies, academic institutions and civil society organizations must join hands with the rest of the world to fulfil our climate responsibility and emerge as a healthy and green nation.
