Assessment of plastic pollution in coastal areas of Karachi: Case study of West Warf, Kemari Jetty, and Manora.

This study focused on marine pollution in coastal areas of Karachi, particularly West Warf, Kemari Jetty, and Manora. The research examined the sources and quantities of waste, from boat manufacturing, export units, and local commercial activities. Stakeholder interviews were conducted to understand waste management practices and identify the key contributors to ocean litter. The results indicated that restaurants, export units, boat construction, and tourist and commuter activities were the primary sources of marine pollution. Plastic was found to be the most prevalent litter category, with LDPE (e.g., single-use bags) and polystyrene (e.g., material in floating docks) being the most common types. Additionally, multi-layer packaging, such as chip wrappers, was frequently observed in the surveyed areas. Overall, this research highlights the urgent need for improved waste management and compliance measures in coastal regions to mitigate marine pollution.

Anthropogenic litter in freshwater bodies and their estuaries: an empirical analysis in Lesvos, Greece.

The last decade increasing attention to litter accumulation in the marine environment revealed the issue of the terrestrial fluxes of plastic pollution into the oceans. However, limited studies investigate the macro-litter abundance and composition particularly in freshwater ecosystems and the adjusted coastal environment. In this study, we conducted an empirical analysis of anthropogenic litter (AL) in two freshwater streams and their estuaries of Lesvos island (Greece), strongly affected by the waste mismanagement in the Moria refugee camp. A total of 1,622 litter items were collected from five sites during the field campaign between the 3rd and 6th of June 2019. Among these, artificial polymer items (mainly drink bottles, single-use plastic bags, cutlery, and trays) irrespective of the site location constituted the major part ranging from 46 to 91% of total AL by mass. Drink bottles and plastic cutlery are found in higher percentage at Moria camp river and its estuary, while packaging and bag litter are more abundant at upstream sites. The operation of the camp has increased the AL abundance 13 times more than the reference site, causing severe threat to human health and to freshwater and marine environment. It is therefore important to improve the waste management system at (inter)national (change in production and packaging policy) and local scale (introducing sustainable solutions to refugee camp design) by promoting recycling and circular economy projects to diminish AL pollution.

Application of material flow analysis for the assessment of current municipal solid waste management in Karachi, Pakistan.

This article assesses the status of the solid waste management system (SWMS) in Karachi, the largest city of Pakistan, using the material flow analysis approach, a widely applied method in waste management (WM) studies. It involves a systematic assessment of the material flows of solid waste under the current WM system. A material flow diagram is developed to visualize the input and output waste flows. This study shows the quantification and identification of municipal solid waste (MSW) flow for the year 2019, from the point of generation to the end-use and disposal. Results show that the MSW generation increased from 10,435 to 15,600 metric tonnes per day (TPD) between 2017 to 2019. Approximately, 75% of the waste generated is collected: formally (50%); and informally (25%). The material recovery is low, accounting for only 26.28% of the total waste. There is no official material recovery and recycling facility. Therefore, material recovery solely depends on the informal sector. Results show that 70% of the daily waste ends up in landfills, which is 3120 TPD more than the formally collected waste. This estimated waste of 3120 TPD flows in either due to disposal activities of the backlogged waste or informally collected waste. Overall, Karachi's SWMS performs poorly with a significant need for improvement. This study recommends adopting integrated WM approaches and inclusion of the informal sector to ensure the affordability and sustainability of the WM system.