Experts on Friday warned that the use of plastic products is rapidly scaling up in Pakistan with a serious threat to freshwater and marine life. Speaking at an event, held jointly by the WWF-Pakistan and University of Karachi to mark the Earth Day at the Institute of Environmental Science, experts said that the decomposition of deadly plastic products takes hundreds of years since their chemical formations help them sustain its existence for too long. The event was organized under the Sustainable Fisheries Entrepreneurship Project supported by Engro Foundation.
They said that the simplest plastic normally used in grocery store bags take at least 100 years to break down while the complex ones take between 100 to 600 years or even last beyond that to decompose. During this period, these plastic products keep on damaging the environment until they are completely decomposed.
The event shed light on threats emerging from plastic pollution and suggested practical solutions to mitigate the issue. The event also mobilized participants, especially students, to develop innovative ways to help end plastic pollution in Pakistan. The theme for this year's Earth Day is End Plastic Pollution, which is aligned with WWF-Pakistan's upcoming campaign to curb the use of single-use plastics. Plastic pollution is a key environmental issue and is a major problem in marine and freshwater bodies in Pakistan; it destroys habitats and adversely impacts wildlife species.
Tasneem Adam Ali, Dean Faculty of Sciences, KU said that using an excessive amount of single-use plastics in our daily life is devastating for the environment. In Pakistan, plastic is becoming an environmental catastrophe in both the rural and urban areas. In our cities, plastic bags chock up drains, which result in flooding. She emphasized on promotion of '4R concept' that is to Reject, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle plastic products. 'The theme for Earth Day this year stresses that every individual, policymaker and business must take action against plastic pollution in order to protect our ecosystems,' she added.
Studies carried out by WWF-Pakistan indicate that the number of incidents of marine animals trapped in plastic products in the sea is increasing. It is estimated that globally about 8 million tons of plastics are deliberately dumped in the sea or finds its way there through wind or flow of rivers and urban runoff. This is approximately equivalent to the dumping of a garbage truck into marine waters every minute.
While, Muhammad Moazzam Khan, Technical Advisor (Marine Fisheries), WWF-Pakistan shared that plastic products, mainly in the form of household utensils and low quality toys, have been used in Pakistan even prior to its creation in 1947. However, from 1965 to 1975 there was a noticeable increase in the use of plastic when it became an integral part of our lives.
He informed that today plastic material constitutes the fourth largest item of import and this sector alone contributes significantly to the national exchequer in different heads. The industry is growing at an annual average of 15 per cent and has surpassed all other industrial sectors. Today, the domestic consumption of plastics stands at more than 2.7 kg, far less than the international average, yet Pakistan is the second largest domestic market in the Southeast Asia after India.
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