Highlighting Plastic Pollution, Challenges In Pakistan.

Plastics are synthetic or semi-synthetic materials made from a wide variety of polymers that can be moulded easily into a shape while soft and then set into a rigid or slightly elastic form. The adaptability plus a wide range of beneficial properties such as being lightweight, durable and flexible, along with cheap production processes has led to widespread adoption in contemporary society.

The success and dominance of plastics resulted in widespread environmental problems due to their slow decomposition rate in natural ecosystems. In order to combat the plastic waste, the world governments and non-governmental organisations began to adopt recycling strategies to assuage environmental concerns while continuing to generate mass production of plastic. Most plastic produced has not been reused as it is either being captured in landfills or persisting in environment as plastic pollution. It can be found in all world's major water bodies like the oceans, seas, lakes and rivers.

The world has a plastic problem, and it is snowballing but so is public awareness and action. Many governments and nongovernmental organisations worldwide are playing their part in reducing plastic pollution by changing their policies and imposing laws such as ban of single use plastic products and introducing modern methods of recycling plastic waste. Campaigns through mass media about the world of plastic and its prevention is also trending amid climate change and global warming threat, as according to report of Centre for International Environmental Law, plastic contribute greenhouse gases in the equivalent of 850 million tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere in 2019 and annual emissions will grow to 1.34 billion tons by 2030. (Sweeping New Report on Global Environmental Impact of Plastics Reveals Severe Damage to Climate, 2019)

On the contrary where the developed countries are somewhat successful in implementing laws and providing strategies to overcome plastic pollution, the developing countries are failing to create mass awareness and efficient methods to tackle plastic waste. Like many countries, Pakistan is also facing the problem of plastic pollution. More than 3.3 million tons of plastic are wasted each year in Pakistan and most of it ends in landfills, unmanaged dumps or strewn about land and water bodies across the country. (Gul, 2020)

In Pakistan the minority elite has more leverage over resources thus are less concerned about the consequences of the waste...