Environmentalists Advocate For Turning Rubbish Into SSWM

News Desk

Peshawar: For better and more sustainable management of the nation’s solid waste, environmentalists have advocated for the promotion of ideas and practices that turn rubbish dumps into useful resources through recycling.

This suggestion was made during a webinar on ‘Solid Waste Management in Pakistan,’ organized by the Institute of Urbanization (IOU), an organization striving to make cities green.

“Our waste is a precious resource that offers numerous options, including the creation of biogas, the production of various products through recycling and generation of electricity, and the conversion of rubbish into organic fertiliser,” said Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) Consultant Babar Abbas.

“Promotion of the concept of using waste as a resource will not only open up opportunities for employment but also address a serious environmental issue related to the lack of an effective solid waste management system, which is also a duty that we have to fulfil on a global scale in order to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” Babar observed.

We need to raise awareness of the potential of solid waste as a resource so that we can use it to transform organic waste into beneficial soil conditioners and fertiliser that can be used in various sectors to support agricultural and vegetation patterns in both urban and rural areas, he opined.

Being an agricultural country, the majority of our waste is organic and comes from farms and livestock, which can be readily transformed into a useful product called bio-gas. This product requires very little infrastructure and can help the nation to some extent deal with its energy crisis.

By using the common practise of dumping solid waste, we are also burying a large number of valuable resources that are present in our garbage, including organic and green waste as well as combustible and non-combustible waste.

The combustible waste includes plastic, glass, paper, board, and metal, and if these materials are correctly separated in preliminary state at household level or dumping sites, can benefit us both financially and environmentally, explained Consultant Babar Abbas.

Large-scale incinerators can be installed, which not only allows for proper management of solid waste but also the production of electricity.

We require capacity building to make sure that the technologies we create are appropriate for our local circumstances and have trained people.

We can also take recycling industries on board by providing them with subsidies and green points so they can benefit from preferential treatment in import and export.

(LWMC)Consultant advised that Pakistan’s waste management industry should plan and create an infrastructure through which it can work and create technologies like composting and bio-gas production that don’t demand a lot of money or specialised knowledge.

“Improper solid waste management is a significant public health issue that requires attention from both the public and the government,” stated Adeel Saeed, a Peshawar-based journalist with a focus on environmental issues, adding that the improper collection of up to 60 per cent of solid trash both in urban and rural regions eventually poses environmental risks by contaminating irrigation channels through canal tunnels.

Every minute, around a million plastic bottles are sold throughout the world, and the amount of plastic waste that has accumulated in the oceans is seriously concerning, covering a sizable section of the water.

Environmental Researcher Syed Hasnaian Raza mentioned that small cities have grown into large ones as a result of the population boom, and residents are now dealing with a wide range of environmental issues as a result of inappropriate solid waste disposal.

He claimed that while creative suggestions for the beneficial exploitation of solid waste are frequently put forth, they are not being properly supported due to a lack of adequate attention.