Islamabad: Pakistan’s northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, which is home to lofty mountain ranges and glaciers, is all set to become plastic free zone.
The Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) government has announced the ban on the “use, purchase, export and import” of plastic starting January 2023. The local government decided to ban plastic in an effort to make the region waste-free and promote sustainable tourism in the region that attracts more than half a million tourists a year.
Gilgit city “will be the pioneer where the manufacturing, import, use, sale, and purchase of single-use plastic bags is going to be banned with effect from Jan 1, 2023” reads the official statement.
Besides the ban, the Gilgit-Baltistan Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is also working to roll out cloth and paper shopping bags. The region’s environmental department said that it “will ensure that local enterprise was developed to provide eco-friendly cloth and paper bags by providing interest-free loans” through Karakoram Cooperative Bank and GB Rural Support programme (GBRSP) for green business development.
Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Secretary Mohyuddin Ahmed Wani directed the EPA to initiate a social media awareness campaign to engage and educate local communities on plastic waste, and the dangers of plastic pollution and encourage them to reduce their plastic consumption.
“It is sad and shocking to see the amount of plastic pollution in these beautiful valleys. There is visible trash on the banks of rivers. It is important that the government takes action against the pollution by effectively implementing the ban and creating awareness” said Shahzad Shigri, a resident of Gilgit city. Local people and traders say the plastic ban is an important step toward greater environmental protection but change could be “problematic if paper and reusable bags are inaccessible or pricey.”
Hunza first to introduce the plastic ban
In 2019, Hunza was the first district in northern Pakistan to ban plastic shopping bags. In 2020, one baling and compressing packaging waste machine was installed in the Hunza district under the Clean Hunza Project. The project by the Hunza administration in partnership with Gilgit Baltistan Waste Management Company (GBWMC) and Nestlé Pakistan has now expanded to Gilgit and Skardu apart from Hunza with one waste management machine in each district.
“In 2022 alone, 700 tons of packaging waste was recycled. By 2023, the project aims to collect and facilitate the recycling of 1200 tons of packaging waste” Rahat Hussain, Nestlé Pakistan spokesperson, told Gulf News. The project also included the installation of 24 benches and waste bins made from 100 per cent recycled plastic waste at popular tourist locations in Gilgit and Hunza.
The plastic ban policy first introduced in Hunza later came into force in several cities of Punjab province and in Islamabad city too but there is little impact on the ground. Experts say that the plastic ban would have little or no effect in the absence of cheap alternatives, effective public engagement, and bigger fines.
