pollution & waste Archives - Green Africa News

13Mar

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pollution & waste

Madagascar Bans Polluting Paints

Photo © David Pisnoy/ Unsplash. Madagascar is the latest African country to limit the sale of paints containing unsafe amounts of lead, a harmful heavy metal. The new standard by the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development outlaws paints with lead concentrations higher than 90 parts per million (ppm). This is according to the latest update of the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead in paints, a partnership of governments, businesses and civil society campaigning against lead-based paints. “The Malagasy public is not aware of the impact of lead paints on health and the environment. Public education will accompany the enforcement of the new standard for paints,“ said Rila Albani Rakotomanana, the Ministry’s Head of the Pollution and Chemicals Unit said in a...

Gabon to Benefit from a $14 Million Initiative to Combat Polluting Skin Products

18Feb

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pollution & waste

Gabon to Benefit from a $14 Million Initiative to Combat Polluting Skin Products

©RFS Studio/Pexels Gabon is among the beneficiaries of a new $14 million initiative led by the UN Environment (UNEP) to cut the use of mercury in skin-lightening products to minimize damage to human and environmental health. The three-year project will work to reduce the risk of exposure to mercury-added skin-lightening products, raising awareness of the health risks associated with their use, developing model regulations to reduce their circulation, and halting production, trade and distribution across domestic and international markets. The initiative is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and executed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Biodiversity Research Institute (BRI). Sri Lanka and Jamaica will also benefit. “Mercury is a hidden and toxic ingred...

Report: How Africa Can Beat Plastic Pollution

7Feb

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News, pollution & waste

Report: How Africa Can Beat Plastic Pollution

Photo © Calvin Sihongo/Unsplash 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 ta...

31Jan

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Comment, pollution & waste

Africa Must Act Against Harmful Paints

Joyful spherical creature, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons The majority of African countries are yet to outlaw harmful paints containing heavy metal lead despite their documented and far-reaching negative health and economic impacts, and the high risks of exposure to them facing many people on the continent. As the world marks the 10th Anniversary of International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week (23-29 October 2022), we can no longer brush aside the pressing need to keep unsafe paints out of our homes, schools, and workplaces. We can do this by developing and enforcing mandates against lead paints, and enhancing public and industry awareness about their dangers. Information compiled from the United Nations Environment Progra...