Islamabad: Addressing a major environmental and public health issue, Romina Khurshid Alam, Coordinator to the Prime Minister on Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, highlighted the critical nature of plastic pollution in Pakistan. Speaking at a high-level roundtable discussion on plastic waste management, she detailed the government’s efforts to combat the pollution, which poses a severe threat to both ecosystems and public health.
According to Press Information Department, the roundtable, organized by the Ministry of Climate Change, brought together a diverse group of stakeholders, including government officials, NGOs, academia, researchers, and media. The event focused on knowledge sharing, showcasing successful interventions, and exploring collaborative opportunities to tackle plastic waste. Alam emphasized the importance of efficient plastic waste management as essential for safeguarding human health and the environment. She noted that the current government has developed a strong regulatory and policy framework to control the transboundary movement of plastic waste, in accordance with the Basel Convention. This framework includes stringent measures for the notification and approval processes before exporting hazardous wastes.
Furthermore, Alam shared that the Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination (MoCC and EC) has been proactive in banning single-use plastics and implementing technologies that prevent the generation of microplastics. She stressed the ongoing need to raise awareness about the impacts of plastic waste and to educate the public on effective strategies for reducing, reusing, recycling, and recovering plastic products.