ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination Dr Musadik Malik has called for bold and equitable global reforms to tackle the escalating plastic pollution crisis, warning against turning developing nations into dumping grounds for waste they did not produce.
Speaking at the Informal Ministerial Dialogue on “Investment Opportunities for a Circular Economy in the Context of the Global Plastic Treaty” during the Fifth Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution (INC-5.2) in Geneva, Dr Malik said wealthy nations consume up to 20 times more plastic than poorer countries yet export contaminated, low-value, or non-recyclable waste to the Global South disguised as “recyclables.”
Without advanced recycling infrastructure, he said, much of this waste ends up in open landfills, is burned in communities, or pollutes rivers and seas — damaging air, soil, and water, and endangering public health.
He highlighted stark disparities in per capita plastic consumption: 150 kilograms annually in Western Europe compared to just 7 kg in Pakistan, 8 kg in India, and 6 kg in Bangladesh, with similar figures in Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Kenya. Despite such low usage, these nations bear a disproportionate waste burden.
Dr Malik proposed two key measures for the Global Plastic Treaty:
- Extended Consumer Responsibility (ECR) Framework — tying responsibility to consumption levels, with high-consuming nations contributing to a Plastic Fund for recycling infrastructure in affected developing countries.
- Global Plastics Credit Market — modelled on carbon credits, enabling high-consuming nations to purchase credits from developing countries achieving measurable progress in waste prevention, collection, and recycling.
He stressed that these initiatives must also create safer, formal jobs for informal waste workers. “Plastic pollution is not just an environmental issue; it’s a matter of justice, fairness, and sovereignty,” he declared, vowing Pakistan will lead the campaign for a global system that prevents any nation from being used as a waste dumping site.
