How Bad Is Pakistan's Plastic Bag Problem? See For Yourself

Boys played amid stinky puddles and dodged trash sludge oozing from plastic bags carpeting a muddy riverbed in Saidpur, a village that connects to the capital Islamabad by a narrow road. "God forgive us," says a woman watching nearby, referring to the trash.

Munira recalls the river stones glinting under fresh water as a child. Now, "there's so much trash," says the 65-year-old, who only has one name.

Pakistan has long struggled with its copious plastic bag trash – the country consumes tens of billions of single-use bags a year. Estimates range from 55 billion to over 112 billion, and there's little waste management.

Over more than a decade, Pakistani provinces have repeatedly imposed bans on single-use plastic bags made out of polythene, but they've faltered. Residents haven't been able to access cheap alternatives, like compostable plastic bags, and police haven't been able to effectively enforce the