Extrusion International 5-2026

60 Extrusion International 5/2026 RECYCLING ment of Pakistan is pushing hard to eliminate single-use plastics and plastic waste,” said Rizwan Diwan, CEO at Novatex Ltd. With the new Starlinger bottle-to-bottle recycling sys- tem, Novatex is able to produce up to 3,000 kg of food- contact rPET per hour, which amounts to an annual production output of more than 24,000 tons. Novatex sources the post-consumer PET bottles mostly from mu- nicipal kerbside collection across Pakistan. The produced rPET chips are used in the company’s own PET preform production or sold on the local and international market. Pakistan does not yet have a na- tional mandatory recycled content quota for plastic packaging comparable to the EU’s Packaging and Pack- aging Waste Regulation (PPWR); thus, brand owners – in Pakistan mainly PepsiCo – are leading the path for rPET inclusion. Roadmap to reduce plastic waste Studies and surveys estimate that Pakistan generates around 3.12 million tons of plastic waste annually, of which only 4 to 9 percent is recycled. 1 With plastic use increasing by 15 percent annually – largely driven by single-use products – and plastics making up almost 40 percent of the solid waste in the Indus river, the coun- try is confronted with environmental and public health challenges. 2 Pakistan’s efforts to tackle plastic waste, however, are still evolving; a fully consolidated framework with binding national laws has not yet been established. In the last year, the country has moved from plastic bans and pilot initiatives in individual provinces toward a more coordinated national approach, but implemen- tation remains uneven. In April 2025, the Government of Pakistan, together with the United Nations Devel- opment Programme and the World Economic Forum, launched the National Plastic Action Partnership (NPAP) Roadmap, which is currently the most important frame- work for plastics waste management on national level. The roadmap aims to reduce plastic pollution, improve waste collection and recycling, expand circular plastic solutions, integrate informal waste pickers, promote public awareness, and encourage sustainable packag- ing and business models. 3 National ERP framework To this effect, Pakistan is moving towards a national system to make companies responsible for the waste cre- ated by their packaging. Food and beverage companies, NGOs, recyclers and packaging producers have formed the so-called CoRE Alliance and, in 2025, joined govern - ment representatives in calling for a national Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) framework. Under such a model, companies bear the cost of collecting, recycling and safely disposing of their packaging waste. The pro- ducer responsibility organizations for handling this, how- ever, have yet to be established. 4 Starlinger recycling technology Furtherstr. 47a, 2564 Weissenbach, Austria www.recycling.starlinger.com https://www.gatronova.com/ our-businesses#id-1 Starlinger’s recoSTAR PET art bottle-to-bottle recycling system produces up to 3,000 kg food-grade rPET per hour (© Novatex) The Novatex recycling facility near Lahore (© Novatex) 1 United Nations Pakistan. “ILO and partners call for greener and more inclusive recycling systems onWorld Environment Day.” UN Paki- stan, 05.06.2026, https://pakistan.un.org/en/316974-media-update-3-united-nations-pakistan-5-june-2026?utm. Retrieved 27.07.2026 2 UNDP. “National Plastic Action Roadmap launched by UNDP, Government of Pakistan, and World Economic Forum to Reduce Plastic Pollution in Pakistan.” UNDP, 24.04.2025, https://www.undp.org/pakistan/press-releases/national-plastic-action-roadmap-launched- undp-government-pakistan-and-world-economic-forum-reduce-plastic-pollution-pakistan. Retrieved 04.07.2026 3 Ibid. 4 “Pakistan’s plastic reform push hinges on integrating informal recyclers.” Pakistan Today, 24.04.2026, https://www.pakistantoday. com.pk/2026/04/24/pakistans-plastic-reform-push-hinges-on-integrating-informal-recyclers. Retrieved 27.07.2026