LAHORE:
The Punjab Environmental Protection Agency has confiscated 321,582 kg of plastic bags with less than 75 microns from a prohibition imposed by the provincial government on June 5.
According to official data, the teams of the department have carried out 143,354 inspections throughout the province.
The EPA squads made 136,961 raids and confiscated 249,485 kg of plastic bags, of which 6,393 raids were carried out in the provincial capital and 72,097 kg of plastic bags were seized.
The general director of the EPA of Punjab, Dr. Imran Hamid Sheikh, told The Express PAkGazette that recognizing the growing need to control the production and use of plastic products, Prime Minister Maryam Nawaz had decided to prohibit bags from June 5.
The main minister has instructed the Department of the Environment to monitor all registered premises to ensure that no production unit violates the rules by producing low -use low micron plastic bags. In addition, the department will carry out surveillance operations to ensure that no plastic bag production unit is registered.
A plastic management information system (PMIS) has also been launched since December for registration and plastic business license throughout Punjab.
The DG said that 556 producers, consumers, collectors and recyclers had been registered through the PMI.
The Data Showed That Special Squads of the Environment Protection Force Have Confiscated 47,065kg of Banned Bags in Fine, 30,474kg in Rawalpindi, 13,110kg in Faisalabad, 6,536kg in gujranwala, 11,780kg in Sargodha, 10,606kg in Bahawalpur, 8,012kg in Sahiwal, 7,460 kg in Sheikhupura and 3,705 kg in Kasur. Banned Plastic Bags Weighing 9,987kg Were Seized in Mandi Bahauddin, 8,130kg in Sialkot, 5.868kg in Gujrat, 5.204kg in Dera Ghazi Khan, 4,271kg in Toba Tek Singh, 4.068kg in lodhran, 3,827kg in Jhang, 3,313kg in Nanowal, 3,024 kg in Muzaffarh, 2,891 kg in Okara, 2,886 kg in Pakpattan, 1,826 kg in Minawali and 5,899 kg in Vehari.
In Nankana Sahib, 5,656 kg of prohibited bags were seized, Hafizabad 5,328 kg, atock 5.012 kg, Bahawalnagar 4.743kg, Layyah 4.647kg, Khanewal 3.764kg, Rahim Khan 3.604kg, Chakwal 3,516kgal 3,516kg Jhelum 2,879 kg, Chinint 2,529kg, Rajanpur 2,064 kg, Khushab 1.734kg, Kot Adu 1,541kg, Bhakkar 1.307kg, Phoolnagar 874kg and Murree 341kg.
The Secretary of Environmental Protection and Climate Change, Silwat Saeed, said that an initiative to invite all companies and organizations to participate in the Punjab commitment campaign without plastic will result in more effective ways to stop plastic items of a single prohibited use.
