The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly deserves appreciation for passing the KP Environmental Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2022 to impose a ban on plastic products and regulate such products in order to make them environmentally friendly. A six-month relaxation period has been given to manufacturers and wholesale deals for clearing their existing stock and after that, the violators would be punished with a penalty of up to Rs 500,000.
Plastic is widely used in our day-to-day life. Starting from a pen to a polythene bag, all are forms of plastic. Though convenient in our day-to-day use, it is posing an alarming threat to the environment. To destroy plastic, we can either recycle or burn it. If we burn plastic, it emits harmful chemical gases. These gases pollute our environment. Plastic bags also damage our environment. Waste plastic bags are thrown into the sea and rivers. In this way, they pollute and disturb the ecosystem of marine life. The only solution to this plastic hazard is to take preventive measures. We should only use recyclable plastic bags, not throw plastic here and there, and the most important thing is that we should reduce the use of plastic bags wherever possible.
Pakistan is already facing the problem of waste disposal in its big cities. The use of plastic products is further worsening the situation. Polythene shopping bags have become a throwaway luxury. Similarly, disposable plastic bottles are strewn everywhere in Pakistan. Infamous tourist resorts, one can see a lot of shopping bags and plastic bottles. All this waste is non-biodegradable and decomposers like fungus and bacteria possess no enzymes to do away with these non-natural synthetic materials. In Pakistan, no landfill or incinerator exists to do away with solid waste. Many common people burn their solid waste in the open air and show no concern about toxic gases. This is despite the fact that burning solid waste in the open is a crime in Pakistan.
Japan incinerates solid waste in closed chambers to produce thermal electricity and treats toxic gases before allowing them to escape. Japan has made solid waste such an asset that it is planning to purchase shiploads of solid waste from the free market. On the other hand, we have made solid waste a liability for our environment. They not only cause sewerage problems but also pose a threat to human health. Animals also get affected when they swallow plastic that accumulates in their bowels, which ultimately becomes lethal to these animals. Bangladesh and some other countries have taken strong measures to avoid the menace, but in Pakistan, some awareness has been created against this menace. After the passage of the bill, other provincial governments need to emulate the process of legislation in this regard and rid cities of such an environmental threat in the form of plastic products.
