by. Sohail Raza Dodhy,
Secretary, Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers Association (NZ), Sialkot

1. Inroduction

Pakistan, like other developing countries, is facing similar threats of depletion of ozone layer, global warming, natural resource degradation and environmental pollution. Rapid population growth (reported at an average annual growth rate of 3.10 percent a year) and impressive GDP growth (of about 6.4 percent a year) have put enormous pressure on the country’s natural resource base and have significantly increased levels of pollution.

The people are continuously migrating from rural to urban areas due to concerns related to the agriculture sector, such as low crop yields, lack of alternate employment opportunities and environmental degradation due to water logging/salinity, deforestation and desertification.

The municipal institutions do not have sufficient resources, means and technical capacity to accommodate the needs of increasing urban population. The poor communities in urban settlements play a key role in waste recycling. The only waste which remains on streets and collection points is the organic waste. This could be used for making compost but neither the municipalities nor private sector has moved towards full utilization of this business.

2. Municipal Solid Waste

The use of disposable items and huge packaging material are all contributing to an increase in the amount of municipal solid waste (MSW). Solid waste generation in Pakistan ranges between 0.6 to 0.8 kg/capita/day and solid domestic waste is typically dumped on low-lying land. However, the remains of waste does not burn well and smoldering dumps produce clouds of smoke that can be seen from miles away, which smell bad, and create a breeding ground for flies and rats.

 The collection of waste managed by municipal institutions and street sweeping services are quite irregular and limited to influential areas. The waste spills out of the uncovered containers which, in Pakistan, are mostly transported from one place to another and a lot of garbage falls in the streets and roads before reaching the land-filling. Similarly, in certain areas bull and donkey carts are used to collect the MSW which go from street to street picking up the waste and this is again not proper arrangement for waste collection.

Number of dustbins and constructed filth depots are far less when compared with urban sprawl and population. The urban areas of Pakistan generate more than 60,000 tons of solid waste, out of which more than 60 percent is left uncollected in open places or in the drains and waterways that is causing environmental and health problems.

One of the most serious problems is the air pollution.  The wind carries waste, dust and gases caused by decomposition. Putrefaction of waste in sunlight, during daytime, results in bad smells and reduced visibility.

3. Industrial Waste

No doubt, Industrial development is vital for the economy of Pakistan. The number of textile, leather, sports, surgical and food processing mills/factories have grown greatly. Due to expansion in industry, factories are found emitting more and more toxic effluents into the air and water.

In all industrial cities of Pakistan, inappropriately designed industrial planning and programs are perceived to be notorious for generating water and land pollution due to heavy discharges of untreated wastewater and solid wastes. Groundwater quality throughout the country has also suffered from rapidly increasing use of pesticides and fertilizers aimed at promoting more intensive cropping and facilitating self-sufficiency in food production. Pollutants from these wastes create lot of problems for the aquatic life, crops, animals and human beings.

In Pakistan, only 3 percent of the total industrial units treat their wastes while the rest discharges untreated effluent into rivers, lakes and sea. Dumping of untreated industrial wastes have caused contamination of surface and ground water resources and threatened the aquatic life to the endangered level. About 47 percent of the population is still without access to safe drinking water, and nearly 84 percent of rural population is without sanitation facilities. Water borne diseases account for 20 to 30 percent of infant deaths in the country.

 4. Hospital Waste

In recent years, hospital waste disposal has posed even more difficulties with the advent/use of disposable instruments such as needles, syringes, and other similar items.

Around 250,000 tons of medical waste is annually produced from all sorts of health centre facilities in Pakistan. The major public and private hospitals and laboratories in the city produce 3 tonnes of waste every day. Most of this, around 75 percent, comes from government hospitals and is dumped into city government containers, putting citizens at risk of diseases such as diarrhoea, dysentery, cholera, typhoid, hepatitis, malaria, the plague, skin diseases and HIV (AIDS), according to a city government report on hospital waste management. There are places where hospital waste is dumped with municipal waste, which is damaging to the environment and public health. An average Pakistani uses five disposable syringes per year, making a demand of about 750 million syringes. Pakistan imports 250 million syringes and 500 million syringes are produced locally in “suspect condition”. Most of these 500 million disposable syringes are of dubious origin and used in rural areas.

This type of waste has a bad affect on the environment by contaminating the land, air and water resources. Some hospitals and municipalities burn their wastes, which results in the production of large amount of highly toxic gases. It is quite unfortunate that no monitoring measures are taken or assessments made to measure the levels of these emissions which cause air pollution.

5. Earthquake Waste

Occurrence of natural disasters has been haunting the humanity since the dawn of civilization. Earthquakes, floods, cyclones, volcanoes, droughts, tsunamis and landslides are examples of natural disasters.

Pakistan faced the worst ever earthquake of its history, measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale, which struck the country’s Northern Areas. Resultantly, over 100,000 lives were lost, hundreds of towns and villages were razed to ground and infrastructure including buildings, roads, communications, electricity and civic amenities in the effected areas were totally collapsed in the mater of few seconds.

In the earthquake hit effected areas, assessments indicate that of the total housing stock, 84 percent was damaged or destroyed in AJK and 36 percent was damaged or destroyed in NWFP. Hospitals, schools and government buildings have also been lost or seriously damaged. The earthquake and its aftermath are generating unprecedented amounts of waste and debris from damaged buildings and other infrastructures like sewerage, fertilizers and other agro-chemicals containing persistent organic pollutants, dead animals, land and mudslides, rock-falls, siltation of rivers and streams, damage to both natural and man-made water channels, damage to the forest resources, damage to agriculture land - especially that on the slopes - roads, hospital waste, and finally, the huge amount of debris is having increasing pressure on the natural resources. Even after 8 months, many dead bodies have not been recovered from the rubble especially in the isolated and far flung hilly areas where the requisite machinery could not be conveyed.

The organic and demolition wastes are causing large scale incidence of bacterial, viral, flies and mosquito borne diseases. Hepatitis and tetanus are the common diseases. Children are suffering from measles. Orthopedic and spine surgery cases are rampant. There is a general fear that toxic materials such as oils, agricultural chemicals, batteries and by- products of industrial activities are present in the debris and waste stock piles, which will play havoc with the health of the people of the affected areas if left untreated.

The waste management systems are being hampered and are not fully functional due to a continued collection of hazardous waste in the urban areas. Overall health of the people is suffering tremendous negative impact due to non-availability of comprehensive management system.

6. E-Waste

The electronics industry is the fastest growing manufacturing industry in the world, and it undergoes rapid product obsolescence, therefore frequent discard of electronics takes place (or E-waste). E-waste has now become the fastest growing waste stream in the industrialized world. The growing quantity of E-waste is beginning to reach disastrous proportions and industrialized countries, all over the world, are just now beginning to grapple with the problem.

Countries from which the computer waste/scrap comes include: Australia, Japan, England, the United States, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates.

The disposing and recycling E-waste has serious legal and environmental implications.

When computer waste is land-filled or incinerated, it poses significant contamination problems. Landfills leach toxins into groundwater and incinerators emit toxic air pollutants including dioxins. Likewise, the recycling of computers has serious occupational and environmental implications, particularly when the recycling industry is often marginally profitable at best and often cannot afford to take the necessary precautions to protect the environment and worker health.

7. Pakistan Envronmental Protection ACT (PEPA)

Pakistan Environmental Protection Act - PEPA 1997 targets the protection, rehabilitation and improvement of the environment so that the pollution can be controlled for the sustainable development. The Act covers air pollution, water pollution, land pollution, noise pollution, solid waste, and pollution caused by the vehicular emissions.
PEPA -1997 assigns following responsibilities to Federal EPA under Section 6(1):

• Development and implementation of National Environmental Quality Standards (NEQS)
• Development of the environmental standards for the quality of air, water and land;
• Preparation of the methodology for surveillance, testing and checking of environmental quality; and
• Dissemination of knowledge about the environmental issues to the general public.
   
  High court appoints the Environmental Magistrates. Under Section 24 of the Act, Environmental Magistrates deal with the environmental cases, such as production, movement and storage of the hazardous substances without license and vehicles emitting noise or gases, which exceed the limits, as notified down by the NEQS.
   
  8. Need for Environmental Management System

There is a need to know that the private and public interest in environmental protection and sustainable development is growing each year.  It is common to hear about such issues from customers, the public or government authorities. Therefore most of the organizations may need to align themselves to demonstrate commitment to the environment. Implementing an Environmental Management System (EMS) can help to meet this challenge.

An effective EMS makes good sense, whether the organization is in the public or private sector.  By helping to identify the causes of environmental problems and then by eliminating them, an EMS can further help to save money.  Think of it in this way:

• Is it better to make a product (or provide a service) right the first time or to fix it later?
• Is it cheaper to prevent a spill in the first place or to clean it up afterwards?
• Is it more cost-effective to prevent pollution or to manage it after it has been generated?

The EMS can be an investment in long-term viability of organization. An EMS can help you to be more effective in achieving environmental goals.  And, by helping businesses to keep existing customers and attract new ones, an EMS adds value.
The key to effective environmental management is the use of a systematic approach to planning, controlling, measuring and improving an organization’s environmental performance. Potential significant environmental improvements (and cost savings) can be achieved by assessing and improving organization’s management processes.  Many environmental “problems” can be solved without installing expensive pollution control equipment.

9. Guidelines for Sustainable Waste Management Strategy

Pakistan has responded to its environmental problems by developing laws, establishing Government agencies and accepting technical assistance from the donors. Despite this, the response remains fragmented and environmental institutions, laws, and other initiatives do not solve the whole problem.

A waste management system cannot be sustainable if it is not appropriate, as continuous high inputs would be needed to keep it going. It must take cognizance of dynamic issues, such as the culture of the people, available technology, complexity of waste streams, and population. The policy-makers and citizens need to be informed and educated about the impact of waste, and an appropriate legal framework must support the implementation of a waste management strategy to ensure suitable standards and standardized systems are in place.

The public should be informed about any proposed changes to Waste Management practices relatively early in the planning stages, so that their ideas and comments can be taken into account in finalising the programme. This is particularly important when the local government is going to ask for their increased participation, which many people may not intend to do. Hence, it is a good idea to explain to the people about the problems with the current system and to educate them of what the new system involves and related benefits to the people and city – educate them! The information and education process can be done in a large number of ways, including:  leaflets, posters, murals, notice boards, books, stories, games, videos, newspapers, radio, television, public meetings, community discussion groups, competitions, drama/street theatre/music, marches, theme days, cleanup days, printed shopping bags or tee-shirts with environmental messages, SWM cartoon characters, slogans or even through a logo.

The recommendations will include that hospital waste should be documented and weighed and its disposal must be supervised by hospital committees of three or more people. The disposal of hospital waste in SWM containers should be banned. The Ministry of Health should order hospitals, labs and clinics to incinerate their waste.

10. Conclusion

The involvement of private sector in waste management can prove successful to make the optimal use of scarce resources. In addition, various activities of waste management like street sweeping, waste storage, waste collection, waste transportation and waste disposal can be improved through education and training of municipal staff, community awareness and participation, technically designing of landfill sites and better financial management.

It is further recommended that options which may include 3 R’s (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) and composting should be encouraged in the private sector.

About author

Sohail Raza Dodhy has completed his graduation in Computer Sciences (BS Computers) and holds a masters degree in Business Administration (MBA). He has been attending various courses, training programs and workshops on International Standards, Pollution Control and Waste Management, Regional Cooperation, Market Development, Knitting & Fabrication and implementation and impact of World Trade Organization (WTO) on Pakistan. He has served in the well reputed organizations; most recent posting was in SAARC Chamber of Commerce & Industry which is an apex trade organization of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. Presently Sohail Raza Dodhy is serving as (Regional) Secretary in Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers Association (Sialkot) which is a government approved sole representative body of Hosiery/Knitwear Industry in Pakistan.