Cooperation among public, private sectors crucial to reduce plastic waste: experts.

ISLAMABAD -- The experts in environmental studies on Wednesday stressed the need for strong collaboration between the public and private sectors and a conducive legislative framework to reduce plastic use and shift to sustainable eco-friendly packaging.

They made theses remarks during a session on 'Rethinking Plastics: Engaging Business Sector for a Circular Economy' organised by Sustainable Development Policy Institute's Network for Circular Economy here.

Addressing the session, Joint Executive Director, SDPI Dr Vaqar Ahmed, said highlighting the opportunities and challenges through success stories from private sector initiatives for plastic waste reduction could evoke the interest of the public sector in the area.

He called for reforms in the public procurement system by incentivizing SMEs and said that SECP was keen on conducting time-bound experiments to test financing mechanisms for such initiatives and startups.

Ahmed emphasised that SDPI could provide a platform to bridge SMEs and stakeholders for the promotion of green skills in this area.

Group Manager Sustainability, Packages Limited Ayesha Aziz, said that solutions to plastic packaging were expensive and there was a need to invest in research in Pakistan to reach cost-effective solutions. She urged for a collective effort from stakeholders including the private sector, consumers and the government.

Rija Tayyab, Roshan Packages stressed on involving large corporations as well as those at the grass-root level to create awareness by engaging students, academia and the community.

Hammad Haider, Metro Pakistan, said that his corporation through a strong community awareness campaign raised awareness on the harsh impacts of using plastic bags and had abolished single-use plastic packaging from their system.

He...