In the most generic sense, waste can be defined as any product that has been utilized to its capacity and can be discarded as it is no longer of use to anyone. According to research conducted by World Bank, the entire world generates approximately 3.5 billion tons of solid waste in one day. This amount is said to be ten times greater than the amount of waste produced a century ago. United States contributes the most to this number by exclusively producing 250 million tons of solid waste per annum, which amounts to roughly 4.5 pounds per person per day. Non-biodegradable wastes like plastic takes about 500 to 1000 years to decompose safely. Not only that but, since most of the plastic ends up in the ocean, it is predicted that by 2050, these waters will consist of more plastic than fish by weight. Due to the mammoth quantities of solid waste produced every day, countries all over the world have taken initiatives to recycle and reuse disposed produces like metal, paper and plastic in an active process to reduce pollution. Alternate methods like landfills and burning proved to be quite perilous as burning plastic produces toxic fumes that are a danger to both the environment and living organisms and open landfills lead way to all sorts of pollution unless they are fully equipped. Apart from the solid waste, there are multiple types of wastes initiating from different sources which require a number of different modus operandi for safe disposal.
Sources and Types of Wastes
There are two main sources of waste materials; Domestic waste which is generated in households, restaurants etcetera, and industrial waste that is produced by the factories. These are then further divided into subcategories or types that include:
Solid wastes which consist of discarded materials from both residential and industrial operations and include substances like scrap metals, construction debris, discarded paper, plastic in the form of bags, drums, containers etc. and general garbage.
Organic waste which consists of discarded edible products for example leftover meat, peels, excess food, etc.
Hazardous waste which can be in the form of solid, liquid, or gas and has the potential to be extremely toxic to all living organisms.
E-waste which refers to used and discarded electronics and automotive batteries.
Import and Export of Waste in Pakistan and the Basel Convention
Countries which are unable to discard hazardous and contaminated waste have been exporting it to countries that are well equipped with the necessary disposal plants. The proper and safe disposal of hazardous and contaminated waste all over the world is overseen by the Basel Convention.
Basel Convention is a multilateral environmental agreement aiming solely to protect the humans and the environment by ensuring appropriate elimination of toxic and poisonous waste and is responsible for the rules and regulations regarding the import and export of waste materials globally.
The world’s plastic recycling trade alone is a $200 billion business, which used to be dominated by China. Being the largest importer of contaminated plastic waste, China had multiple fully-functioning plants in order to dispose of the waste properly. However, as it imposed a ban on importing post-consumer plastic waste, the influx of this contaminated plastic has increased exponentially in Pakistan.
Since Pakistan is unequipped in handling the disposal of this plastic waste, it has become much more of a hindrance. According to Dawn News, between the years 2019 and 2020, 65,000 metric tons of contaminated plastic waste have been dumped into Pakistan from all over the world going strictly against the Basel Convention. On the other hand, Pakistan exports a large number of solid metal waste to China including Copper waste and other scraps. According to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade, this metal waste export amounted up to around US$1.91 million in 2020.
Management of Waste in Pakistan
According to International Trade Administration, Pakistan generates over 48.5 million tons of solid waste annually which amounts to about 87,000 tons of waste daily. This figure has been consistently increasing by roughly 2% every year. The most common types of waste found abundantly in Pakistan are municipal solid waste, industrial waste, agricultural waste and hazardous waste. Karachi, being the largest city, presumably generates over 13,500 tons of municipal waste on a daily basis and Lahore produces around 6,500 tons. About 60%-70% of this waste is initially picked up by the waste collection fleet and then transported to landfills located outside city limits. Karachi and Lahore both have 2 major, fully equipped landfill sites.
Due to the massive, and consistently increasing, generation of solid waste, the government has been tirelessly trying to overcome the issue. So far, the government of Punjab has initiated the establishment of a Waste-To-Energy plant, managed by Lahore Waste Management Company, which will use the solid municipal waste as fuel to produce electricity and heat. It is predicted that this plant will be able to process approximately 2,000 tons of waste per day and 6,000 tons per year.
Another such initiative to utilize waste is centered in Mardan at the Mardan Solid Waste Management Power Project. The main objective of this plant is to turn organic waste into combustible gasses. They aim to use easily biodegradable waste and turn it into methane gas through biological conversion and gasification of other organic waste into synthetic gasses using restricted amount of oxygen.
Not only that but Pakistan now has its first-ever scientific disposal site meeting all the international standards required for a disposal plant located in Lakhodair, Lahore.
Despite all this, much of the waste never makes it to the proper disposal site and is either dumped outside city limits or incinerated therefore making it much harder to recycle and reuse.
Our Roles as Citizens
If we want to completely deconstruct a structure, we have to start at its foundation. Similarly, in order to tackle the overdue issues regarding waste disposal, we, as citizens of this country, need to start at home. Simply by segregating our waste into recyclables, organic, and general garbage, we can easily half the problem. In addition to that we can go green by using biodegradable/recyclable materials instead of plastic and contribute immensely to our environment and the marine life. Vermicomposting is another way to reuse waste as it turns organic waste into fertile manure with the help of Red Worms. We need to stop thinking and start taking action if we want to leave a world that is breathable and environmentally sound for our future generations. Instead of exhausting natural resources and contributing to the greenhouse effect, let us concentrate on using the substantial potential that organic and recyclable waste hold.
