LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif’s flagship “Clean Punjab (Suthra Punjab)” initiative has received another major international endorsement with the BBC praising its modern waste management model.
Following recognition from Forbes and Bloomberg after COP-30, the BBC reports that the Clean Punjab model has now reached the UK city of Birmingham.
According to the BBC, this marks the first time in history that a volunteer group from a British city has sought guidance from Punjab for urban cleanliness and waste management. The report states that the Clean Punjab model has effectively become a reference point for international cities facing sanitation challenges.
The BBC added that Birmingham had long struggled with overflowing waste bins and recurring sanitation workers’ strikes, and that the Clean Punjab approach had proven helpful in addressing these issues.
A digital partnership between Punjab’s waste management experts and Birmingham’s local volunteers has helped challenge traditional assumptions about waste management in developed cities.
The report noted that the Clean Punjab Waste Management Plan is now being viewed as a global best-practice example. British volunteers involved in the collaboration admitted that learning from Punjab made them realize that, despite living in the West, they had fallen behind in civic responsibility.
According to the BBC, initial contact between the Birmingham volunteer group and the Clean Punjab team took place during the COP-30 environmental conference in Brazil, where details of the program were presented at the Pakistan Pavilion. This was followed by an online consultation between the two sides.
The CEO of Lahore Waste Management Company, Babar Sahib Din, also held an online meeting with Birmingham volunteers, during which he shared insights into Punjab’s waste management model and offered guidance tailored to local challenges in the UK.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg has described Clean Punjab’s “Waste-to-Value” project as a significant initiative, reporting that the program is contributing an estimated Rs. 300 billion annually to Punjab’s economy through environmentally friendly activities.
The Clean Punjab initiative continues to gain international attention as an innovative and sustainable urban cleanliness model, reinforcing Pakistan’s growing role in global environmental solutions.
