ISLAMABAD: Retailers have urged the Islamabad capital administration to withdraw its decision to ban plastic bottles, warning that the move could disrupt businesses, undermine the recycling industry and adversely affect economic activity.<\/p>\n
The administration, which had earlier imposed restrictions on polyethylene bags, has now extended the ban to products packaged in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles. Retailers said the decision had raised serious concerns across the business community and called for an immediate review.<\/p>\n
Retailers said they had been verbally instructed to stop selling products packaged in PET bottles across multiple categories following directions from the Office of the Chief Commissioner and Chairman of the Capital Development Authority (CDA). They also said enforcement actions, including the sealing of retail outlets, had begun in Islamabad.<\/p>\n
They urged the administration to reconsider the decision, arguing that a blanket ban on PET bottles could impose additional costs on businesses and disrupt an established collection and recycling network. They said the policy should focus on improving plastic waste management rather than prohibiting recyclable packaging.<\/p>\n
PET is widely used for beverage and other product packaging because it is lightweight, suitable for food and beverage applications, and recyclable. Used PET bottles also have commercial value and support livelihoods in waste collection, sorting and recycling.<\/p>\n
Businesses said banning PET packaging could weaken this recycling chain and affect workers and enterprises that depend on it. They also warned that replacing PET with alternatives such as glass or aluminium would not necessarily deliver better environmental outcomes, as the overall impact depends on factors including production, transportation, collection and recycling.<\/p>\n
They argued that effective waste segregation, improved collection systems, investment in recycling infrastructure and producer-funded recovery programmes would provide a more practical way to address plastic pollution.<\/p>\n
The business community also maintained that the proposed restrictions appeared inconsistent with the objectives of the Islamabad Capital Territory Single-Use Plastics (Prohibition) Regulations, 2023, and international approaches that emphasise packaging recyclability, collection and recycling systems, and extended producer responsibility.<\/p>\n
Retailers called on the administration to review the measure in consultation with businesses and other stakeholders and withdraw the ban on PET bottles. They said a balanced regulatory approach could protect the environment without placing an unnecessary burden on businesses or undermining the recycling economy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD: Retailers have urged the Islamabad capital administration to withdraw its decision to ban plastic bottles, warning that the move could disrupt businesses, undermine the recycling industry and adversely affect economic activity. The administration, which had earlier imposed restrictions on polyethylene bags, has now extended the ban to products packaged in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5943,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[692],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t