PM Shahbaz Forms Task Force to Build Pakistan's First Waste-to-Energy Policy
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has established a national task force to formulate Pakistan's first waste-to-energy policy, with Power Division Minister Sardar Awais Leghari serving as convener. The body includes federal and provincial ministers, secretaries from all four provinces, and private sector representatives tasked with identifying barriers and proposing legislation for the sector.
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Thursday established a high-level task force to draft Pakistan's first national policy on waste-to-energy projects, with Power Division Minister Sardar Awais Leghari appointed as convener. The body will map out a strategy, institutional framework, and investment roadmap to turn municipal and industrial waste into electricity across the country.
Who Is on the Task Force?
The task force brings together a broad cross-section of federal and provincial stakeholders. Federal members include:
- Minister for Climate Change Musadik Malik
- Minister of State for Finance and Railways Bilal Azhar Kayani
- Federal secretaries for climate change and inter-provincial coordination
Provincial representation spans all four provinces — Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan — plus Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, through their respective secretaries of local government, climate change, and energy departments. Private sector representatives have also been included as full members, signalling that commercial investment is central to the government's vision.
What Will the Task Force Actually Do?
According to the Prime Minister's Office, the terms of reference are specific and actionable. The task force is mandated to:
- Study international best practices in waste-to-energy generation
- Identify legal, regulatory, financial, and operational barriers blocking sector growth in Pakistan
- Propose new legislation and regulatory reforms to enable project development
- Recommend coordination mechanisms among federal, provincial, and local stakeholders
- Facilitate private sector participation through a clear institutional framework
No deadline for the policy's completion was announced in the Prime Minister's Office statement, and no specific capacity targets or PKR investment figures were disclosed at this stage.
Why Waste-to-Energy, and Why Now?
Pakistan's cities generate tens of thousands of tonnes of solid waste daily, most of which ends up in open dumpsites. Converting that waste into electricity addresses two chronic problems simultaneously: an overburdened solid-waste management system and a power sector that continues to face demand-supply gaps during peak seasons. Waste-to-energy plants — which use incineration, gasification, or landfill-gas capture — are already operating at scale in China, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, and parts of Europe, and the task force is specifically asked to examine those models.
The timing also aligns with Pakistan's broader energy diversification push under the Indicative Generation Capacity Expansion Plan (IGCEP) and climate commitments, as well as IMF programme conditions that require reducing reliance on expensive imported fuel for power generation. Waste-to-energy could, in theory, displace some thermal generation and lower the fuel cost component embedded in electricity tariffs — though those benefits depend entirely on scale and execution.
NEPRA (the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority) and the Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) are not explicitly named in the task force composition announced so far, but any eventual waste-to-energy projects would require NEPRA licensing, tariff determination, and grid interconnection approvals before a single unit of electricity could be sold.
Frequently Asked
Questions about this story
Will this task force immediately reduce my electricity bill in Pakistan?
No. The task force is at the policy-drafting stage and no waste-to-energy plants have been announced yet. Any impact on electricity tariffs or fuel cost adjustments is several years away at minimum.Does this waste-to-energy policy apply to K-Electric customers in Karachi as well?
Yes, in principle. The policy is national in scope and Karachi — one of Pakistan's largest waste-producing cities — would be a prime candidate for waste-to-energy projects, though K-Electric would need separate NEPRA approvals for any plant feeding its grid.Which minister is leading the waste-to-energy task force?
Sardar Awais Leghari, Minister for Power Division, is the convener of the task force formed by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif on 15 May 2026.Which provinces are represented on the waste-to-energy task force?
All four provinces — Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan — are represented through their secretaries of local government, climate change, and energy departments, along with Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.When will Pakistan's first waste-to-energy policy be finalised?
No deadline has been announced by the Prime Minister's Office. The task force must first study international models, identify regulatory barriers, and propose legislation before a final policy is published — a process that typically takes at least one to two years.
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