Plastic Waste Management! A Step towards Climate Change Adaptation and Sustainable Development in District Swat, Kpk, Pakistan

The non-degradable nature of plastic bags is posing a wide range of serious environmental and health deteriorations and hence are considered to be a big problem in waste management. This study was carried out to determine the popularity, usage, disposal and environmental impacts of plastic bags in Mingora city District Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Northern Pakistan. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect the data from 203 randomly selected respondents. The results indicated that despite of age, gender and occupation most of the respondents 68.5 % were using plastic bags for their groceries. About 44 % of the respondents were using 20-30 bags per week and this is why 32 % of the solid waste was composed of plastic waste. The study further revealed that the easily availability 50.7 % and low price 38.9 % is responsible for such an extensive use of plastic bags in the study area. The most common impacts of plastic bags in District swat identified in this study were blockage of sewage and drainage system leading to less durable road pavements 52.5 %, human health problems 28.6 % and animal deaths 10.3 %. So beside awareness allot of efforts are needed to bring forward an effective law against the production, distribution and use of plastic bags in the country and the existing burden of plastic should be managed in effective ways like these plastic waste may be used as a substitute of conventional blacktop of roads which not only will contribute to sustainability of roads by enhancing durability but will also be a step towards climate change adaptation.