According to the Sustainable Development Report 2019, Pakistan stands at the 130th rank out of 162 countries with a score of 55.6 on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Index.

In contrast, regional countries like China (39), Thailand (40) and India (115) are at higher spots in the overall ranking and have made swift progress on achieving the SDGs. While there is no specific focus of the SDGs on plastic pollution, SDG 12 (responsible consumption and production) and SDG 14 (life below water) are closely tied to the matter of tackling plastic waste.

In SDG 12, Pakistan has a score of 92.1, just lagging behind India (94.5) but has fared quite better than China (82) and Thailand (79.5). However, in SDG 14, Pakistan, with a score of 47.6, is trailing both India (51.2) and Thailand (54.7).

Between January 2019 and April 2020, Pakistan imported around 65,000 tons of plastic waste.

The import of plastic waste is, therefore, aggravating Pakistan’s pollution problem and posing immense environmental and health risks to the country’s citizens. Before the issuance of the next SDGs progress report, it is hoped that the government stakeholders concerned will work closely to introduce stricter environmental standards and regulations in an effort to put a ban on plastic waste imports.

“Without this action, Pakistan is likely to lag behind its neighbors in the achievement of SDGs,” the report said.