<
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/08/plastic-waste-spiralling-out-of-control-across-africa-analysis-shows>
"Plastic waste is “spiralling out of control” across Africa, where it is
growing faster than any other region, new analysis has shown.
At current levels, enough plastic waste to cover a football pitch is openly
dumped or burned in sub-Saharan Africa every minute, according to the charity
Tearfund.
If the trend continues unabated, the region is projected to end up with 116m
tonnes of plastic waste annually by 2060, six times more than the 18m tonnes of
waste produced in 2019. The main driver of rising plastic consumption in
sub-Saharan Africa, where 70% of the population is under 30, is demand for
vehicles and other products amid rising income and population growth.
Overall, plastic use worldwide is projected to almost triple by 2060.
The soaring demand for plastic predicted across sub-Saharan Africa, where many
countries do not have the capacity to manage it, was revealed before a meeting
of governments in Nairobi, Kenya, next week to hammer out a UN treaty to fight
plastic pollution.
Rich Gower, senior economist at Tearfund, said: “The signs of environmental
breakdown are all around us, but this treaty has the potential to curb the
plastics crisis and improve the lives of billions of people.
“Much of the plastic being used in sub-Saharan Africa is plastic packaging and
ends up being dumped and burned,” he added. He urged negotiators in Nairobi to
agree to significant reductions in plastic production and to put waste pickers,
who collect 60% of all plastic that gets recycled globally, front and centre of
the treaty.
In the absence of global rules and regulations, people living in developing
countries and the waste pickers who collect the waste, disproportionately bear
the brunt of the environmental and health impacts of plastic pollution."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
