Authorities Directed To Take Stakeholders On Board To Make Ban On Plastic Bags Effective

Umer Jamshaid Published May 29, 2024 | 07:47 PM

Commissioner Rawalpindi Division, Engineer Aamir Khattak here on Wednesday directed the authorities concerned to take all the stakeholders on board to make ban on plastic bags effective

RAWALPINDI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th May, 2024) Commissioner Rawalpindi Division, Engineer Aamir Khattak here on Wednesday directed the authorities concerned to take all the stakeholders on board to make ban on plastic bags effective.

Chairing an Environment Department meeting the commissioner instructed the officers that the awareness sessions should be conducted before the giving deadline to ban the use of plastic bags. Awareness sessions should be conducted with stakeholders including manufacturers, recyclers and consumers, he added.

He said that the importance of compliance with the new regulations should be highlighted in the awareness sessions and the citizens should also be offered alternative materials to single-use plastics. Community engagement sessions should also be arranged to discuss the harmful effects of the plastic bag use and their alternatives, he ordered.

The commissioner said that cloth bags could be used as an alternative to plastic bags besides promoting the use of paper, steel, or wooden cutlery.

The process of manufacturing these bags at the local level would start a new economic

activity, he added.

The purpose of this change is not only to protect the environment but also to protect human health, the commissioner added.

The implementation of Punjab Environmental Protection (Production and Consumption of Single-Use Plastic Products) Regulations 2023 issued by the Punjab Government is top priority of the administration, the commissioner said adding that all the stakeholders should strictly follow the regulations issued in this regard.

The commissioner said that the price Magistrates in the district would be equipped with gauges to measure the thickness of the plastic bags to ensure the enforcement of the ban on the use of plastic bags. The plastic bags with a thickness of less than 75 microns would be confiscated from June 5, he warned.