Pakistan

Policy framework

National Action Plan

Name:

• United Nations Environment Programme’s Scientific Advisory Committee on marine litter and microplastics. Pakistan is the member (EPA) of Scientific Advisory Committee working on the “Assessment on Sources, Pathways and Hazards of Litter including Plastic Litter and Microplastics Pollution”. Progress on the Assessment on sources, pathways, and hazards of litter including plastic litter and microplastic pollution.
• Pakistan is the signatory of Basel convention, As of 1 January 2021, the new plastic waste entries clarify the scope of control under the Basel Convention for other types of plastic waste and mixtures of plastic waste and the specific conditions under which plastic waste is subject to the PIC procedure.
• To address and reduce marine litter and microplastics, a study has been developed “Marine Litter Action Plan – Status Report”.

Brief description:
The “Marine Litter Action Plan – Status Report” recommends the following short and long term essential steps to overcome this issue of safe waste disposal along the coastal areas of Pakistan:-

• Promote an integrated approach in dealing with different types of waste with particular focus on wastes affecting marine ecosystem such as plastic debris;
• Launch marine pollution control programmes with adequate legal cover and policies, and governmental and private enforcement mechanism as building blocks for a successful implementation;
• Need long term and consistent education and awareness programmes/campaigns for the public, government, NGOs and community groups regarding safe disposal of waste and address the issues of illegal dumping;
• Develop strong and robust monitoring mechanism to deal with marine plastics debris;
• Monitoring and Assessment of plastic Waste Management
• Recycling programmes should be encouraged to reduce the pressure of plastic debris releases into water bodies;

Legal framework
Name:
As a member of Scientific Advisory Committee, key findings of the Assessment on sources, pathways and concern reviewed of marine litter including plastic litter and microplastics pollution (draft) submitted to Marine Litter Team, GPA Unit, Ecosystems Division United Nations Environment Programme.

Brief description here:

• Sources of marine plastic litter and microplastics, across the lifecycle of plastics and indicating, where possible, the situation in different UN regions. International and transboundary movement of plastic waste.
• overall trends: estimates of land-based and sea-based inputs of marine litter and microplastics to the ocean, where possible presenting the regional breakdown; impacts of natural hazards and climate change.

In Pakistan, following policies and acts are formulated to address coastal and marine pollution but not exclusively for marine debris issue:

• National Climate Change Policy 2012
• National Environment Policy 2005
• Pakistan Environment Protection Act, 1997
• The Sindh Local Government Act, 2013
• The Sindh Environmental Protection Act, 2014
• Balochistan Environmental Protection Act, 2012
• Hospital Waste Management Rules, 2014
• Maritime Security Agency Act, 1995 (revised 2016)
• The Sindh Industries Registration Act, 2017 (un-approved)
• Sindh Solid Waste Management Board Act, 2014
• National Institute of Oceanography Act, 2007
• Karachi Port Trust Act, 1886
• Ports Act, 1908
• Import order policy 2020
• Basel convention for plastic waste (transboundary movement)

Brief description:

• Environmental Governance in Pakistan is being practiced since the launch of Pakistan National Conservation Strategy (PNCS) in 1992 along with its Action Plan in 1993.
• National Environment Quality Standards (NEQS) have been put in place in 1995.
• To give legal cover to national pollution prevention efforts at national and provincial level, Pakistan Environmental Protection Act was enacted in 1997.
• However, after the 18th Constitutional Amendment, the subject of “Environment and Ecology” was devolved to the provinces. The provincial governments have therefore enacted their own environmental laws and regulations which are being enforced by the respective EPAs.

Indicators
Monitoring and Indicators

• Monitoring of marine litter and debris, especially plastics, and microplastics in Arabian sea
• Methodologies and approaches for different sources and sinks, locations and densities
• Baselines, Data collection and methodologies;
• Data sharing arrangements and platforms
• Gaps in monitoring different types of plastic litter and microplastics.
• Transboundary movement of plastic waste in ocean
• Technologies for improved tracking for plastic recovery
• Citizen clean-up programmes and initiatives
• Increase plastic products traceability, and retrieval at national level
• Legislation strengthening (imposed ban on polyethane)
• Analysis of options for material-free solutions to replace the need for plastics.
• Effectiveness of mitigation measures across lifecycle stages of plastic

Measures

Challenges

• Recycling system improvement
• Proper waste management system (including lack of local capacity)
• Lack of awareness among citizens, business, local governments

Best practices

National level
Clean Green Pakistan Movement is an innovative movement that underpins behavioral change at the grassroo ts level. Citizens, institutions and cities have been empowered to take action to preserve their environment (including actions against plastic pollution). Federal government incentivizes this behavioral change through financial rewards and recognition.

Local level
Integrated Resource Recovery Centers (IRRCs) are locally recycling waste products to segregate plastic wastes and generate compost from organic waste. This is a step towards circular economy.

Private sector
CoRE alliance group formed by private sector stakeholders is a commendable effort to recycle and reduce plastic packaging waste, which constitutes a primary source of plastic in waterways.

International cooperation
The ‘plastic-free rivers and seas in South Asia’ project in collaboration with SACEP, the World Bank and Parley for the Oceans is a robust initiative to address the marine plastic pollution problem in the entire region.