KU, WWF launches plastic recovery bank at IES

The Institute of Environmental Studies in collaboration with the World Wide Fund for Nature – Pakistan (WWF Pakistan) organized a seminar on the ‘significance of circular economy’ and also launched a plastic recovery bank (PRB) at the KU’s IES on Tuesday.

Addressing the seminar at the KU Chinese Teachers Memorial Auditorium, the KU IES Director Dr Muhammad Farrakh Nawaz informed the audience that as we are combating the challenges of climate change, resource depletion, and waste management, the principles of a circular economy offer us a pathway toward a more resilient and sustainable future.

He mentioned that by promoting reuse, recycling, and regeneration, we can not only minimize waste but also create economic opportunities and foster innovation. According to him, half of all the global greenhouse gas emissions are caused by the extraction, processing, and consumption of raw materials. Through the circular economy approach, we can reduce the prices of inputs, reduce our emissions, and meet the goals of climate change mitigation.

He shared that annually, 1,28,000 deaths in Pakistan are attributed to air pollution, and about 40 percent of surface waters are polluted. Only one city, Karachi, throws 450 million gallons of sewage daily in the Arabian Sea.

“Heavy metals, pesticides, and industrial waste have degraded the soils of this agricultural country. Pakistan is generating about 50 million tons of solid waste annually. So, in a country where the environment has degraded alarmingly, we need environmental emergency and immediate promotion of environmentally friendly practices like circular economy.”

The Senior Officer Circularity and Ability Climate and Energy Program of the WWF Pakistan Sahib Alam Khan said that Pakistan produces 3.9 million tons of plastic waste which is expected to reach 6.12 million tons by 2050.

“Around 70% of this plastic waste (2.6 million tonnes) is mismanaged, left to landfills, unmanaged dumps, and leaked water bodies. Indus River contributes to 164,332 tons of plastic waste and 1.3 million tons annually of the plastic could be recycled in currently present facilities.”

The Director of Climate Action and Sustainability of the WWF Pakistan Nazifa Butt shared that there is an urgent need to formulate policies and strategies to reduce plastic production and focus on the collection, segregation, and recycling of plastic waste and transition to a regional circular economy framework for plastics. She mentioned that many of our products cannot be discontinued, but we can certainly improve them.

She said that universities are the best means of promoting awareness. The purpose of establishing a PRB at the University of Karachi is to promote awareness and save the environment from the harm of plastic and deliver the collected plastic to the recycler.

She added that 40 percent of waste in Pakistan is not collected and dumped somewhere. We lack infrastructure, waste collection, and dumping, it needs to be improved.

The KU acting Dean of the Faculty of Science Professor Dr Hajra Tahir said that we know a lot about the environment, how we can protect it, and what steps are required to improve our air quality index. Unfortunately, we have failed to adopt and implement the practical measures.

She appreciated the KU IES for launching an innovative idea to collect and properly dispose of solid waste. She termed that solid waste is a very serious issue of the global environment. She mentioned that the audience would surely learn how to dispose the PET bottles through this seminar, and how they can be made reusable so that we can save our money and economy by changing this waste into our reusable items.

She said that the disposal of solid waste creates a lot of toxic elements or chemicals that are harmful to our health and cause us several diseases. We have to look at the socio-economic impact of these materials as well as we have to move towards sustainability.

The KU Director of the Office of Research, Innovation and Commercialization Dr Syeda Hoor-Ul-Ain said that the event aims to raise awareness about the role and significance of the circular economy and the drastic impacts of plastic on our environment among the masses.

After the seminar, the KU IES launched the PRB with the help of WWF and its donors like Pakistan Beverages Limited. On this occasion, the KU IES Director Dr Farrakh Nawaz shared that through this PRB pilot phase project, we would be able to reduce plastic pollution within the campus and added that the KU’s Institute of Environmental Studies is also going to sign a memorandum of understanding with the WWF Pakistan in this regard.