Is that a biscuit wrapper you’re breathing?

While Pakistan boasts low marine plastic pollution rates, a significant challenge lies in managing multi-layer plastic (MLP) waste, commonly found in everyday items like biscuit and chip wrappers. In Karachi's Shershah market, recyclers sort trash and process it into plastic pellets, or 'dana,' used for making new products. However, the most problematic and least valuable plastic waste, MLP, is often converted into 'gatha,' a form of compacting or melting that creates energy blocks used as cheap fuel by factories and kilns. This MLP, often composed of multiple layers including plastic, adhesive, and sometimes aluminum, is difficult to separate and recycle. Internationally, similar materials are processed as Solid Recovered Fuel, but are subject to strict government oversight, a level of regulation seemingly absent in Pakistan's informal recycling sector. The environmental implications of converting this difficult-to-recycle material into fuel remain a significant concern.

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What’s that on the floor? ... That’s gatha, they said.