Representatives of the SMEP PMA (Glen Wilson, Elzette Henshilwood and Amani Issa) and UNCTAD (Maria Durleva) were fortunate to travel to vibrant Pakistan in December 2024. The main objective of the trip was to visit all Pakistan SMEP projects and to engage with relevant stakeholders in the country. It was a whirlwind trip, during which the team spent two days in Karachi and four days in Lahore and its surrounding areas. Our Pakistan hosts were exceptional in organising the logistics for our visit, demonstrating that Pakistan’s love language is its hospitality and delicious food.
Some highlight visits were:
- Visiting a textile recycling facility in Karachi (TexCycled), which produces recycled yarn from colour separated post-industrial waste. These facilities play a crucial role as partners on the Reverse Resources traceability platform, a project funded by SMEP. Manzoor Fareed Hashmi is the local representative, who is passionate about sustainability and has extensive experience in this sector in Pakistan.
- Touring a second-hand clothing sorting facility, Retex Global. This facility plays a vital role in sorting second-hand clothing collected from Europe and other countries before exporting it to markets that contribute to the thriving second-hand clothing industry in developing countries. This visit was particularly relevant for the SMEP project in Uganda, led by WasteAid UK on circular textiles.
- Attending the Pakistan Water and Energy Expo, which featured a one-day conference component organised by Dr. Muhammad Wakil Shahzad, under the Safeconomy SMEP-funded project, led by the University of Northumbria. The innovative molecular distortion wastewater treatment technology was well received by the conference participants. The team then also visited the first pilot site for this project, Sapphire Finishing Mill.
- No visit to Pakistan would be complete without a stop at National Textile University in Faisalabad, a pioneering facility in the textile industry and a partner in both the Reverse Resources and Safeconomy projects. The SMEP team was impressed by the innovative methods the NTU team is employing to repurpose textile dust, which is typically considered waste in the industry.
- The NTU team took the SMEP team to a cluster of smaller-scale textile recyclers focused on post-industrial waste, which forms part of a new study assessing their current production processes and their environmental impact.
- In the last two days, the team engaged with WWF – Pakistan, discussing various challenges facing the textiles and leather industries in the country and learning about previous successful programmes in this sector. We also met the WWF team responsible for the SMEP e-traceability project, which included a site visit to a participating tannery in Sialkot, Leatherfields. We are grateful to our hosts who also showed us some cultural aspects of Pakistan.
Author: Elzette Henshilwood
Project Manager for Textiles and Tanneries portfolios (SMEP PMA)
