PESHAWAR:Experts on solid waste have underscored the need for serious efforts to use technology for waste segregation and utilization of separated materials to promote zero-waste initiatives in the country.
“Lack of waste at source and low recycling rates are major waste management challenges in our country which are negatively impacting urban livability,” they believed.
The experts expressed these views while speaking at a Twitter space titled “Using Waste as Resource for Zero-Waste Cities in Pakistan” under the Green Urban Development (GUD) project held in connection with Zero Waste Day.
The talk was organized by the Institute of Urbanism (IoU) and the School of Leadership Foundation (SoLF) in collaboration with the U.S. embassy, said a press release issued here on Thursday.
“Serious efforts are required to use technology for waste segregation and utilization of the separated materials as raw material/resource for other uses,” emphasised Babar Abbas, Environmental Engineer, National University of Science and Technology (NUST).
Other speakers included Sumaira Gull, CEO of Integrated Resource Recovery Center (IRRC) and Dr Ejaz Ahmad, Senior Program Fellow, Institute of Urbanism.
An integrated solid waste management system was required in urban areas with an emphasis on maximizing resource use efficiency, they suggested.
In Pakistan, the waste sector was threatening the achievement of the global 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda by exacerbating the triple planetary threat of climate change, biodiversity, nature loss, and pollution, they added.
In response to a query about innovation for sustainable urban waste management, Abbas stated that a “government must optimize industrial operations to segregate different types of waste. Unfortunately, we do not have any proper sanitary landfill sites.”
Earlier in welcome remarks, Dr Ejaz Ahmad apprised participants that the Twitter space was part of the Green Urban Development project under which the capacity of university students will be built on environmentally compatible development strategies.
The student would also be provided opportunities for conducting field research which will enable them to come up with solutions that can be turned into business cases for eco-enterprises, he added.
Dr Ahmad said the aim of the Twitter space was to highlight the need to shift from a linear to a circular economy and to exchange knowledge around up-scaling best practices for zero-waste solutions.
Sharing her views, the CEO of IRRC said youth needs to be mobilized, adding that there was “great potential for entrepreneurship in waste management”.
Proper facilities where waste was segregated and recyclables were recovered need to be installed at municipal levels. Such facilities can then be up-scaled at a city level. Special vocational courses need to be introduced to build the capacity of youth on using waste as a resource and turning recycling into income-generating opportunities, she suggested.
Relevant policy stakeholders also contributed to the discussion including Farzana Altaf Shah, Direction General, Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA), Sardar Khan Zimri, Director General of Water Management, Capital Development Authority (CDA), Mariyam Irfan, Managing Director, SoLF.
Farzana Shah stressed the need to consider rural areas in solid waste management as there was a huge amount of waste produced in rural regions that goes unattended.
Sardar Khan Zimri underscored the need to introduce solid waste management regulations in private housing societies. He also urged the citizens to play a role by making their consumption patterns inclusive of nature and improving their waste disposal practices as the “government alone cannot deal with the waste management challenges” faced in the urban areas of Pakistan.
Irfan appreciated the students who are conceiving innovative ideas to address solid waste management and segregation.
However, segregation at source was crucial for turning waste into a resource and transitioning towards a circular economy, she added.