18 airlines told not to use plastic cutlery on flights to Pakistan – Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The Aviation Division has ordered 18 international airlines to stop using plastic cutlery on flights to Pakistan.

Airlines are also instructed to ensure that cutlery is packed in paper instead of plastic or polyethylene bags.

The information was shared by the Deputy Joint Secretary of the Aviation Division, Amjad Sattar Khokhar, with the adviser to the Prime Minister on Climate Change, Malik Amin Aslam, on Monday.

Both were present in the committee room of the House of Parliament, where a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Climate Change was scheduled at 11 am. But the meeting was delayed since the committee president, Sitara Ayaz, and other parliamentarians could not arrive on time. Media staff was also present in the committee room.

“We have given directives to airlines that cannot use plastic cutlery on flights, since we want to stop the use of plastic. In addition, it is noted that the cutlery is packed in plastic bags, so we have also directed them to ensure that the cutlery is wrapped in paper instead of polyethylene, ”said Mr. Khokhar.

China Southern Airlines wants to know under what law the directive should follow

"In addition, we have decided to place employees with messages in this regard at airports so that passengers coming from abroad know that the use of plastic bags is prohibited in Pakistan," he said.

Aslam appreciated the step and said that such messages can also be posted on electronic boards located near the airports.

"I was traveling to a country [he said without mentioning the name of the country] and at the time of entry they told me there would be a fine of $ 200 for the use of plastic bags, "he said.

Speaking to Dawn After the meeting, Mr. Khokhar said a written directive was sent to the airlines a few months ago and then reminders were sent to ensure its implementation.

“Only China Southern Airlines has asked us that, in accordance with the law, we should stop using plastic cutlery and we have given them an answer. Other airlines have not asked about it, which means they have no objection. We hope that the decision of the Aviation Division will be implemented shortly, ”he said.

"We are also concerned about climate change and that is why we have planted more than 50,000 young trees around airports," Khokhar said.

In June of this year a new regulation was introduced under the Environmental Protection Act of 1997, which proposed the prohibition of polyethylene bags in the federal capital, and August 14 was the deadline.

The regulation is called "Pak-EPA Ban on Polyethylene Bag Regulations (Manufacturing, Import, Sale, Purchase, Storage and Use), 2019" and extends to the Territory of the Capital of Islamabad. Later, other provinces also began to follow the federal capital and are in the process of banning the use of plastic bags.

Posted on Dawn, October 1, 2019