Pakistan: Plastic Waste Management Crisis

Pakistan’s Growing Environmental and Health Burden

nasiraijaz December 23, 2025

0 76 4 minutes read

Pakistan’s urban and rural populations bear the brunt of plastic overuse through polluted water, degraded farmland, and toxic air

Ali Nawaz Rahimoo

Plastic pollution in Pakistan has escalated from an aesthetic nuisance to a measurable threat to public health, food security, and climate resilience. Recent government and sectoral assessments indicate that Pakistan produces millions of tons of plastic waste annually, yet formal recycling captures only a small fraction. This scale of waste places immense pressure on municipal services, overwhelms landfill capacities, clogs drainage systems, and exposes millions to hazardous pollutants when plastics are dumped or burned.

Effective waste management is primarily the responsibility of provincial and local government institutions, following the devolution of environmental services under the 18th Amendment. At the federal level, the Ministry of Climate Change & Environmental Coordination (MoCC&EC) provides policy guidance on climate, environment, and waste while coordinating with provincial agencies to implement National Environmental Quality Standards, including plastic regulations. The Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak‑EPA) monitors hazardous waste and enforces plastic ban, working with provincial EPAs to ensure compliance.

In Punjab, the Local Government & Community Development Department oversees municipal solid waste management. The Suthra Punjab Program, launched in December 2024, aims to modernize collection and services across Punjab’s cities. Independent Waste Management Companies manage waste in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, and Multan, while the Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) handles collection, transport, and disposal in Lahore and surroundings. Sindh relies on the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board (SSWMB), which oversees planning, contracting, and district-level operations, particularly in Karachi. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Water & Sanitation Services Companies (WSSCs) manage urban waste, complemented by the Smart Waste Management Framework, a digital tracking program launched in 2025 to improve real-time monitoring. Balochistan continues to face limited waste management services, with municipal authorities providing only basic collection, cleanup, and disposal amid minimal infrastructure. Across all provinces, municipal administrations and town councils remain the operational units responsible for street sweeping, bin emptying, transportation to disposal sites, and public awareness.

The concentration of waste in urban megacities amplifies the challenge. Karachi produces between 12,000 and 14,800 tons of municipal waste daily, ranking among South Asia’s highest. The city struggles with collection, unsegregated disposal, and overflowing landfills like Jam Chakro and Gond Pass, where plastics are mixed with organic waste, complicating recycling. Punjab’s urban centers collectively generate about 47,000 tons of municipal waste per day, driven by urban growth and rising per-capita consumption. Lahore’s LWMC has mechanized landfill cells and garbage tax schemes to enhance collection. Other major cities—including Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Multan, Peshawar, Quetta, Faisalabad, and Gujranwala—face inadequate waste management infrastructure, with many towns in KP and Balochistan still relying on open dumps with minimal regulation.

Alongside government action, NGOs, academic institutions, and research organizations are contributing to waste management solutions. The Engro Circular Plastics Program pilots circular economy initiatives through research, collection, and recycling projects. Gul Bahao, a Karachi-based NGO, develops commercial products from discarded materials while researching waste reuse and recycling. The Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) conducts policy research on sustainable development and waste management. A UNDP-led Baseline Plastic Waste Study in collaboration with Unilever Pakistan assessed plastic waste patterns in Rahim Yar Khan, providing critical data for circular economy interventions. Karachi University and WWF Pakistan launched a Plastic Recovery Bank and public awareness programs to increase recycling rates. Universities like Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) host conferences and research projects on waste business models, technological solutions, and policy frameworks. While these efforts demonstrate growing cross-sectoral engagement, most remain localized pilots rather than national-scale solutions.

Natural disasters further exacerbate Pakistan’s waste problem. Floods, earthquakes, and cyclones produce surges in debris, plastic from destroyed homes, agricultural films, and packaging waste, overwhelming municipal services. Disaster debris occupies landfill space and often contains hazardous materials like chemical containers, damaged electronics, and polluted plastics requiring specialized handling. Blocked drainage from accumulated waste prolongs flooding, heightens vector-borne disease risk, and slows recovery. Informal settlements and rural areas, with the weakest waste services, are disproportionately affected, as cleanup resources are diverted to relief operations and waste remains uncleared for extended periods. The open burning of disaster waste releases toxic emissions, including dioxins, furans, and fine particulates, threatening respiratory health and compounding injury and disease risks in vulnerable populations.

Plastic mismanagement directly affects health and the environment. Open burning emits toxins linked to respiratory disease, cardiovascular problems, and developmental risks in children. Microplastics contaminate irrigation water, surface water, and food chains, creating pathways for chemicals to enter human diets. Plastics also contribute to climate-related impacts. Lifecycle studies show that plastic production and disposal generate greenhouse-gas emissions, while microplastics disrupt soil microbial activity and marine carbon cycles. Some plastics emit trace gases like methane under sunlight, illustrating the links between plastic pollution and climate change. Reducing plastic waste is therefore an environmental, health, and climate imperative.

Policy gaps remain a major challenge. Intermittent bans on single-use bags, municipal reforms, and donor-supported pilot projects in segregation and composting exist, but enforcement is inconsistent and financing inadequate. Formalizing the informal recycling sector, including waste pickers and small buyers, is critical to improve recovery and protect workers. Measures such as reuse systems, deposit-return schemes, and mandatory recyclability design could dramatically reduce plastic flow into waste streams. Alongside these, sanitary landfills, scaled recycling, circular economy measures, and environmentally appropriate waste-to-energy models are needed for a holistic response.

Pakistan’s urban and rural populations bear the brunt of plastic overuse through polluted water, degraded farmland, and toxic air. Without coordinated national action, provincial and municipal investment, and citizen behavior change, the environmental and health burden from current plastic use will persist for decades.