Strong economic growth and continuing industrialization in Pakistan has led to an uncontrolled increase in waste production. The country generates about 20 million tonnes of solid waste every year, which has been increasing at a rate of over 2 per cent annually. Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi, generates over 13,500 tonnes of solid waste every day. Much of this waste is burned or dumped in open-air landfills, creating a serious risk to the environment and public health.
Among the biggest challenges facing Pakistan as it seeks to confront this issue is a lack of legislation or substantial policy for the management of hazardous waste, as well as an absence of adequate inventories of chemicals present in the country. Pakistan has ratified the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions, but weak institutional capacity continues to be a hurdle in the implementation of these international agreements.
To help tackle this problem head on, Pakistan is partnering with the Chemicals and Waste Management Programme on an ambitious three-year project to strengthen institutional capacity and also develop, adopt, monitor and enforce a sustainable chemical and hazardous waste management policy. The project will also see Pakistan gain greater access to financial and other resources for effective adoption and implementation of the conventions relevant to the sound management of chemicals and hazardous wastes throughout their life cycle.
To initiate the process for developing national policy regulations and other guidelines, relevant stakeholders like ministries, departments, agencies, development sectors, industries, researchers, non-governmental organizations and others will be identified and consulted on the most pressing issues confronting Pakistan’s chemicals and waste management. These groups will help support the government in a nationwide survey to identify the source and extent of chemicals in Pakistan, as well as their current management.
Independent consultants will then be hired to create a detailed national inventory of chemicals and hazardous wastes, as well as any contaminated sites across the country. Consultants or legal environmental experts will also be hired to identify the key policy and management gaps in Pakistan’s national legislation as related to chemicals and waste. National stakeholders will then be consulted on the review and finalization of a draft national survey report, which will then be disseminated among relevant project participants.
On the basis of this survey, a National Chemical and Hazardous Waste Management Policy as well as other legislation on standards, regulations, labeling, licensing, penalties, incentives, etc. will be developed, along with an implementation plan, including specific activities, a timeframe and actions marked to responsible stakeholders. This will be the main output of the project, ensuring that chemical and hazardous waste management becomes a key, sustainable element of Pakistan’s future environmental policy. It will also ensure that the central objectives of chemical and waste management conventions will be adopted and more fully implemented going forward. In accordance with national policies and the Stockholm Convention, relevant non-governmental stakeholders, including non-governmental organizations, would be involved at all stages of development and implementation of the National Chemical and Hazardous Waste Management Policy.
As part of the project, a sensitization programme for the Federal Board of Revenue will also be carried out to ensure that appropriate coding for chemical import, export and production in the country is adequately updated. Lists of all chemicals identified through the national survey will also be updated and coded accordingly through consultation with the Federal Board of Revenue. Pakistan will also work to remediate persistent organic pollutants by assessing and containing contaminated sites for the protection of the environment and the local population across the country.
The project will also see Pakistan devise a proposal for a national specialized directorate on chemical and waste management. This will ensure strict implementation of environmental laws on chemicals and waste management. The process will culminate in the development of specific guidelines for the integration of chemical and hazardous waste management issues into national development budgets, policies, plans and other broad-level decision-making processes, ensuring this becomes a key element of Pakistan’s environmental policy long into the future.
For further information please contact the Special Programme Secretariat at unepchemicalsspecialprogramme@un.org
