LAHORE: “This ban on plastic bags is not going to last,” believes Rafiq, a fruit vendor in Ayubia Market. Packing fruit for his customers, he says lack of political will to enforce the ban and its widespread use will make it difficult, if not impossible.

Recently, the Pakistan Environment Protection Agency (PEP) in Punjab kickstarted yet another campaign to enforce a ban on plastic bags and other disposable plastic products in a bid to bring down the level of environmental pollutants.

Each year, Punjab produces over 1.2 million tonnes of non-recyclable plastic waste. Annually, the nation uses over 126 billion plastic bags, with a 15 per cent increase per annum. This has led to atrocious pollution levels in aquatic bodies due to lack of proper disposal, necessitating the ban. However, shopkeepers and business owners are not as optimistic about the success of this measure.The past bans have earlier been imposed in 2007, 2009 and 2014, in different regions in the country. To quote more recent examples, the Green Initiative in 2019 which included a blanket ban on single-use polyethylene bags in the capital - this measure also involved hefty fines for those who overstepped the restrictions. There was a significant lack of alternatives provided to most stores, so plastic bags remained in the limelight they have always held.

Another attempt was made in August 2020 in Punjab, which faded out in less than two years. There was a ‘decided’ refusal from customers to change their attitude, while outcries on the loss of employment of plastic bag manufacturers echoed through the streets.

Tajammal Hussain, a customer at a departmental store who recently visited Islamabad where the ban has been imposed since August 2023, said even food (takeaway) was served in plastic plates in Lahore.

In case this ban does differ from the past ones, shopkeepers admitted to the possibility of introducing reusable cloth bags. These are present in major stores. This practice has been encouraged by the government as it distributed cloth bags among school children while discussing this ban. Salesmen may charge a sum from customers to have a bag with their purchases. A new industry making cloth bags could also be a potential outcome of proper enforcement of this ban, making up for the deficit in plastic bag employment.

“In a way, this saves us a lot of money, around Rs40,000 to Rs50,000, as we do not have to buy the plastic bags anymore. However, many clients protest about the extra bag charges and the change, which creates issues with customer purchases, as they aren’t willing to compromise,” the owner of a provisional store in Askari-V Market states regretfully. A spokesperson for the environment department says that this ban is “only applicable to plastic bags below 75 microns because the bags under this limit are unable to be recycled or reused.”

“The effectiveness of this ban cannot be determined quickly, as it’s barely 30 days in. The government has been successful in confiscating 12,000 kg of such plastic bags in Lahore so far. We understand that this will take time to make a majority of small stores in the province to follow the ban but centres like Emporium Mall are aware of this ban and are adapting to it,” he adds.

Published in Dawn, July 8th, 2024