By Muhammad Soban ISLAMABAD, March 28, (INP-WealthPK): Like rest of the world, Pakistan has also been confronting the problem of increasing volume of plastic waste. To combat this issue, the United Nations has classified plastic trash as an epidemic that is escalating both environmental and economic costs. In the first week of March, the United Nations organized an environmental summit in Nairobi, where over 100 countries advocated for the adoption of a landmark global environmental treaty that would curtail plastic pollution throughout the world. According to World Wildlife Fund (WWF) statistics, 250 million tons of garbage is generated in Pakistan every year, consisting of plastic wastes, pet bottles, and food scraps. Like other developing economies, Pakistan is also facing difficulties in tackling the issue of solid waste, especially plastic waste that is degrading the ecosystem. Pakistan does not have a proper waste management infrastructure that causes the waste to end up in landfill sites, creating serious problems for people's health and the environment. Furthermore, according to the WWF, about 8 million tons of plastic waste ends up in oceans. It is projected that there will be more plastic than fish in the oceans by 2050. Plastic waste is a serious threat to nature as a plastic bag can take 500 and a plastic bottle 300 years to decompose. Unfortunately, the share of plastic waste is 65% of the total waste of Pakistan. Around 55 billion plastic bags are being used in Pakistan, with an annual increase of 15%. The Government of Pakistan has been trying to curtail the use of plastic bags. For this purpose, Prime Minister Imran Khan has launched the “Clean Green Initiative”. Under this program, the government had banned polythene bag use in Islamabad from 14th August 2019 by shifting to biodegradable plastic bags. The Punjab provincial government had also announced to curtail polythene bags by banning them in October 2019, but the government was facing difficulties in implementation. The plastic industry in Pakistan rapidly progressed during the 1960-70s. Currently, over 8,000 plastic-producing units are installed across Pakistan. According to statistics, 200,000 people are directly, and 600,000 are indirectly associated with the plastic bags industry. Despite the government's efforts to discourage plastic bags, Pakistan cannot counter this grave issue of plastic waste. This process is not easy as the plastic industry provides employment opportunities to over 800,000 people. It could not be stopped overnight by banning. There is a need for creative solutions to prevent and reduce plastic waste gradually. Pakistan banned the use of single-use plastic bags in 2019 and became one of the 128 countries globally that banned polythene bags. Due to this ban, plastic bags production was reduced to 600,000kg annually. The success of banning plastic bags depends on awareness, providing alternative bags, and media campaigns. According to a survey, about 80% of respondents felt that the ban had increased their knowledge of plastic pollution. By creating awareness, the use of plastic bags can be reduced. In our daily lives, about 90% of plastic items are used once and then chucked like disposable cutlery, straws, grocery bags, plastic wrap, coffee-cup lids, etc. There is a need to ban and restrict single-use plastic products. Furthermore, there is a need to introduce more alternative products that can be reusable and environmentally biodegradable. The government should take more steps by facilitating alternative options. Lastly, imposing high taxes on single-use plastic bags and giving subsidies and other incentives to alternative options can help Pakistan reduce plastic waste. Instead of buying new bottles of water, people could be motivated to reuse the bottles that would help reduce plastic waste.