Govt to bring E-waste management law soon: Zartaj Gul

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ISLAMABAD, JAN 24 (DNA) — Minister of State for Climate Change Zartaj Gul on Monday said the government was likely to bring electronic-waste management law soon aimed at ensuring proper disposal of discarded-electrical or electronic devices and their recycling in an environmentally correct manner.

Talking to media in an event arranged by the Telenor Pakistan to share research recently released by its top 5 Tech Trends for the year 2022 which focused on how technology and digitalization will come to aid climate change and environmental degradation.

She said, “We are working with the Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) for introducing E-Law, for which useful work has already been done”. She said “Pakistan ranks in the top ten most vulnerable countries prone to high climate risk. There is a lot being done and that can further be done to reverse the negative impact of climate change.”

The minister said “I am happy to see that the technological trends presented today pointed towards a much welcome direction to reduce the impact of environmental impact and appreciate the efforts by Telenor Pakistan to reduce the carbon footprint while enabling green technology as an energy alternative. Our vision of Digital Pakistan is only complete through green and sustainable initiatives and we are determined to control the impacts of climate change.”

She said that polythene bags had been banned throughout the country as these were harmful to the environment and public health. Responding to a question, she said that not only Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government would complete its constitutional terms, but the people of the country would elect Imran Khan as Prime Minister for the next term as well.

She said that the opposition parties would continue to make a hell of a noise, the PTI led by Imran Khan would also form the government in the Sindh province after the next elections.

Speaking virtually at the event, Bjorn Taale Sandberg, Head of Telenor Research, said “People everywhere are waking up to the need to act on climate change and environmental degradation. For us in Telenor, it is the key to understand how technology can both avoid being part of the problem and help in the transition.”

Telenor Research predicts that the immense growth in data usage is driving the demand for energy and this year, energy-efficient Edge data centers reachable from mobile devices over 5G networks will start popping up globally.

With an increasing number of electronic devices and solutions enabling humans to lead more convenient lives, the global need for greater energy efficiency will trigger an optimization battle between consumer electronics manufacturers. This year will also see an increasing awareness amongst social media influencers to be more climate-conscious; hence, followers will flock towards Greenfluencers.

Employees are predicted to become more eager to contribute to the environment on an individual scale and this interest will be reflected in opting for micro-degrees on online learning platforms. With the changes in the work environment since the onset of the pandemic, organizations that fail to take into account the evolving needs of the future workforce may risk facing higher employee turnover.

Commenting at the event, Irfan Wahab Khan, CEO of Telenor Pakistan said, “As the world of technology evolves at the speed of light, there is an increased awareness amongst individuals to demand green solutions and for companies worldwide to become more environmentally friendly. We at Telenor Pakistan are making headway towards adopting sustainable energy solutions through initiatives like Thunderbolt which uses solar energy to power telecom towers.

We are also providing our employees with avenues for green learning while evolving our way of work to be more aligned with the needs and demands of the workforce of the future. Telenor Research has laid out the major trends that will be prevalent globally and it provides a good benchmark for local organizations to establish sustainable practices.” =DNA

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