ISLAMABAD – Calls for a unified national approach to Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) are gaining momentum as policymakers, industry leaders, financial experts, and academics convened to chart Pakistan’s path toward plastics circularity.
The two-day event, “Turning the Tide: Extended Producer Responsibility and Plastics Circularity”, organized by the CoRe Alliance, brought together over 80 stakeholders from federal and provincial governments, waste management companies, major FMCGs, recyclers, packaging firms, financial institutions, UN agencies, and academia. Discussions focused on policy harmonization, packaging innovation, inclusion of informal waste workers, and financing mechanisms for recycling infrastructure.
Opening the event, Senator Dr. Musadik Masood Malik, Federal Minister for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, stressed the need for collective reform. “Harmonizing provincial regulations and creating the right incentives is central to building a climate-resilient waste ecosystem,” he said. He also highlighted the global context, noting that developed countries generate over 80% of the world’s waste.
Romina Khurshid Alam, Member of the National Assembly and Coordinator to the Prime Minister on Climate Change, and Aisha Humera, Federal Secretary of the Ministry of Climate Change, emphasized that EPR supports Pakistan’s climate and economic reform agenda by reducing waste, creating green jobs, and attracting international climate finance.
Industry representatives voiced readiness to collaborate with the government. Sheikh Waqar Ahmad, CEO of CoRe Alliance and Head of Corporate Affairs and Sustainability at Nestlé Pakistan, said, “A nationally aligned EPR framework will help scale recycling infrastructure, strengthen traceability, and integrate informal workers in a fair and sustainable way.”
Senators Bushra Anjum Butt and Dr. Afnan Ullah Khan highlighted the importance of predictable, long-term policies, citing global examples of successful circular systems across sectors such as textiles, fertilizers, e-waste, and telecom.
The event concluded with Hussain Talib, CoRe board member and Unilever Head of External Affairs, announcing ten policy recommendations for submission to the Ministry of Climate Change and Ministry of Finance. Recommendations include harmonized legislation, clear roles and responsibilities, realistic compliance timelines, fiscal incentives for recycling infrastructure, and a national digital traceability system.
CoRe (Collect and Recycle), Pakistan’s first multi-stakeholder packaging alliance, aims to eliminate packaging waste through collective action, formalizing collection, enhancing recycling systems, and promoting sustainable packaging nationwide.
Participants agreed that coordinated national action is key to advancing Pakistan’s circular economy and meeting global environmental commitments.
