Can Pakistan’s plastic waste really stack up to twice the height of K2? That’s the claim made in the ‘Rethinking Pakistan’s Relationship with Plastics’ report by the UNDP Innovation Accelerator Lab (2021).
The report states that Pakistan generates 3.9 million tons of plastic waste annually, enough, it says, to form a pile 16,500 meters high, or twice the height of K2, the second-highest mountain on Earth.
As a researcher committed to scientific integrity, I decided to test this striking metaphor using basic volumetric analysis.
Let’s start with the numbers. The average density of mixed plastic waste is approximately 900 kilograms per cubic meter. Using the basic formula for volume, we can estimate the total space this waste would occupy. For example, 3.3 million tons of plastic waste, equivalent to 3.3 billion kilograms, would occupy about 3.67 million cubic meters.
Now, imagine stacking this volume vertically on a square base measuring 100 meters by 100 meters, roughly the size of a city block. Using simple math, the UNDP estimate would produce a plastic tower about 367 meters high. Even with this higher UNDP estimate, the pile wouldn’t reach even 5.0 per cent of K2’s height of 8,611 meters, let alone the 16,500 meters claimed. If we instead use the more recent two-million-ton estimate from the SWITCH-Asia ‘Plastic Policies in Pakistan (2025)’ report, it will take up approximately 2.22 million cubic meters and the pile shrinks further to just 222 meters in height.
For perspective, even if we consider K2’s topographic prominence, how much it rises above its immediate surroundings, which is 4,017 meters, the plastic stack will still fall drastically short. In fact, you’d need nearly 18 towers of the 222-meter kind stacked on top of one another just to match K2’s rise above its local terrain.
While such vivid analogies may be intended to raise public awareness, they can often backfire. Exaggerated statistics presented without clear methodology risk undermining public trust and fuelling scepticism, even when the underlying concern is valid. For a country like Pakistan, whose global image is already challenged by environmental and developmental narratives, maintaining credibility is crucial. Overstated claims, no matter how well-intentioned, can weaken the impact of both research and advocacy efforts.
Environmental communication must therefore strike a careful balance between urgency and accuracy. The real crisis is not just the sheer volume of plastic waste but the systemic failure to manage and recycle it effectively. According to the SWITCH-Asia 2025 report, only 3.0 per cent of Pakistan’s plastic waste is currently recycled, highlighting a profound gap in sustainable waste management systems. More than any metaphorical ‘plastic mountain’ this sobering fact should guide our efforts to address the country’s environmental challenges and improve its standing on the world stage.
Whether Pakistan produces two million or 3.9 million tons of plastic waste yearly, proactive action is needed. According to the World Economic Forum, 70 per cent of this waste is not handled properly, which leads to pollution in rivers; burning plastics also causes air pollution.
What makes the crisis serious is the excess waste and the lack of management capabilities. Cities such as Karachi create a lot of waste, and it exceeds the ability of the current collection and recycling systems.
The main sources are open dumps and informal recycling, which increase the risk to both the environment and health. Such waste mismanagement also brings in major economic costs.
In regions where tourism matters such as Azad Kashmir, pollution from plastic waste make visiting less attractive, putting local jobs and important services at risk.
Although laws banning single-use plastics have been introduced, enforcement is poor, and they do not have much impact because they are not consistently followed and monitored. Efforts to control plastic waste in Pakistan must involve the collaboration of multiple sectors. Precise waste collection and processing can be promoted with Public-Private Partnerships. Helping the informal waste sector grow through recognised cooperatives and official dealings with cities will support both good working conditions and higher recycling rates. The government needs to put in place a National EPR Framework, including set and achievable recycling targets, to make manufacturers responsible for all core aspects of their products.
People should also be educated to reduce and dispose of waste correctly by launching targeted campaigns. By joining waste sorting efforts, communities can take control of how their environment is managed. SMEs play a key role in providing recycling services at the local level and can help pioneer ideas that have a bigger impact.
Still, effective action should rely on reliable data, not feelings or hype. Pakistan needs a transparent and regularly updated national database immediately to properly monitor the amount of plastic waste produced, processed, and recycled. Without consistent and accurate information, policies risk falling short or diverting focus from the essential systemic solutions.
For citizens, businesses and policymakers to engage meaningfully with the plastic crisis, our starting point must be facts, not exaggerations. The mountain we face is real, but its height is measured not in meters, but in missed opportunities for sustainable change.
The writer is a sustainability consultant and a research associate at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), Islamabad.