The Consumer Association of Pakistan (CAP) Islamabad and North Pakistan Chapter has asked Chief Commissioner Islamabad Sohail Ashraf to issue a clear field-level statement on recyclable PET bottles, saying confusion at shops is leaving buyers short of water, juices and soft drinks.
CAP Chairman Islamabad and North, Riaz Asher Siddiqui, said that after recent media coverage some retailers stopped stocking beverages in PET bottles as a precaution. That caution, he said, is creating unnecessary hardship for consumers who cannot find everyday drinks.
What the 2023 ICT plastics rules actually cover
According to CAP’s reading of the law, the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Single-Use Plastics (Prohibition) Regulations 2023 ban only six categories: polythene bags, straws, crockery, cutlery, food-service ware and stirrers. PET bottles—plastic bottles made from polyethylene terephthalate, the clear resin commonly used for water and soft drinks—are not on that banned list.
Schedule-II of the same framework, CAP noted, instead pushes recycling by requiring 50 percent recycled content from 1 July 2028. In other words, the rules are written to encourage recycled material over time, not to remove PET drinks from shelves today.
Official clarification already given, CAP says
Siddiqui also pointed to Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) Director Dr Zaigham Abbas, who has stated there is no ban on PET and that this clarification has already been shared with the ICT Administration. CAP is now asking the Chief Commissioner to put that position into a message retailers and enforcement staff can rely on.
The association said it supports making Islamabad plastic-free for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit and backs action against items that are actually prohibited, as well as recycling under the Polluter Pays Principle—the idea that those who generate plastic waste should bear the cost of managing it.
What CAP wants next
CAP has asked that no coercive action be taken against retail outlets until an expert meeting scheduled for next week. Siddiqui framed the approach as cooperative: “We have requested clarification, not confrontation, in larger public interest and to support administration’s clean Islamabad vision.”
Until that clarification reaches shop floors, the practical risk for Islamabad households remains patchy availability of bottled drinks—not because PET has been outlawed, but because fear of enforcement has outpaced the written rules.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Islamabad mein kuch dukaanon ne peene ke pani aur drinks ki PET bottle stock band kar di hain, kyunke unhein lagta hai yeh ban ho sakti hain. CAP ke mutabiq 2023 ke qawaneen mein PET bottles ban nahi hain; sirf kuch doosri single-use plastic cheezein mana hain. Unhon ne Chief Commissioner se clear bayan mangaa hai taake dukaan-daar aur khareedar dono tension se bach jayein. Agar aap market mein bottle na milay, to samajhein yeh confusion hai, abhi koi naya PET ban confirm nahi hua.
