A new report has called on African countries to develop dedicated policies for plastic waste management to effectively combat plastic pollution.
The report, titled Plastic Waste Management in Africa and issued by the India-based Centre of Science and Environment, notes that in most African nations, plastic is only a small subset of waste management legislation or regulations, thus impeding action. Of the 15 African countries the report studied, only Nigeria has a dedicated policy for plastic waste.
“A dedicated policy on plastic waste goes a long way in addressing issues such as defining key terminologies to avoid ambiguity; identifying stakeholders and assigning specific responsibilities to them; setting a timeline to achieve a target for enforcing a ban or phasing out problematic materials that have been identified through research; deciding on the modalities of a policy tool, and many more,” it notes.
The report also called on African countries to act against all single-use plastics (SUP) instead of focusing only on plastic carrier bags. Africa leads when in plastic carry bag legislation, with 35 countries having a partial or complete ban on the manufacture, sale, distribution and use of plastic carry bags.
But other equally harmful SUPs such as disposable plastic cutlery, straws and bottles are still widely used. It cited the example of water sachets used in parts of west Africa to sell drinking water but contribute significantly to plastic pollution.
Other measures the report proposes include minimizing plastic production, especially in sectors like packaging; strengthening waste information systems; investing in public awareness and behaviour change campaigns; and integrating the informal sector in sustainable plastic waste management.