Africa’s blue economy: Strategies for tackling plastic waste
Africa may consume less plastic per capita than the rest of the world, but the continent is still the second-most polluted in the world. Added to this, most of our waste is mismanaged, with a significant portion ending up in landfills, illegal dumpsites, as well as our rivers and oceans.
With most landfills in Africa being simply uncontrolled dumpsites, an average waste collection rate of just 55% and a population set to double by 2050, we are in serious trouble as a continent if we do not implement urgent and clear local, national and regional and national action plans to support sustainable waste management practices.
The plastic pollution problem in Africa is more nuanced than those faced by other regions, primarily because of the continent’s rapid development, population growth and our diverse economic groups with varying needs and challenges.
Large coastal countries like South Africa and Egypt face different waste-management challenges to small island states, such as Mauritius, or landlocked countries like Lesotho.
We know that municipal solid-waste collection services in most African countries are inadequate and, as our population continues to grow, waste generation is fast outpacing collection and management capacity.
The UN Environment Programme has spearheaded a global effort to address plastic pollution with the Global Plastic Treaty, which sets the framework for action plans that all signatory countries must submit to the treaty’s appointment body. Although the treaty has yet to be finalised, the response and involvement from African nations has been limited, primarily because of the complexity that is innate to the waste-management and plastics sector.
The plastics issue is not considered a priority for many impoverished communities, where meeting basic survival needs is a daily challenge.
As a response to the continent’s unique problems, the Sustainable Seas Trust, a South African marine conservation organisation with an African mandate, has developed Plastic-Free Seas: An Action-Focused Guide for Plastic Management in Africa. The guidebook, developed in collaboration with industry experts across the globe, provides a clear framework and downloadable, editable templates to help African nations draft specific plastic waste-management action plans.
A complementary resource to the Plastic-Free Seas Guidebook, the African Resource Book Series, has also been developed as a more technical, but comprehensive, A-Z guide for plastics, from production to management to existing policies in Africa.
The guidebook recognises that not all African countries are the same, with templates designed to be adaptable, ensuring that each country can customise its plan to its specific economic and geographical context.
Through consultation with stakeholders from across the continent over a two-year period, Sustainable Seas Trust aims to ensure the voices and perspectives of those most affected by plastic pollution are reflected and the practical tools provided make sense within an African context.
Showcasing the need for, and benefit of, different approaches to tackling this global issue, it is a flexible and action-focused “how to” that provides a structured approach to the cross-cutting issues of education, consumer behaviour change, fiscal incentives and recycling markets.
Harmonised regional approaches aligned with national strategies will allow neighbouring countries to share resources and solutions, create regional markets for recycled materials and design effective, mandatory extended producer responsibility schemes.
National action plans must be tailored to reflect each country’s individual economic, societal and environmental circumstances, while city action plans will comprise the biggest lever of change. Prioritising investment in towns and cities to support sustainable waste management will yield the greatest return, as they are the most densely populated, producing the bulk of a country’s plastic waste.
Solutions provided by these action plans must address the full lifecycle of plastics, from production and consumption, to end-of-life disposal including recycling.
Supporting every step of the plastic value chain — including mining and refining of raw materials; design and manufacturing; packaging and shipping; retail and the use, discarding and recycling of the product — through training and provision of adequate and appropriate resources, is an absolute imperative for reducing waste.
Africa has an opportunity to not only address the plastic pollution crisis in a way that fulfils its obligations to the UN Global Plastics Treaty, but also to drive a transformative shift towards a more resource-efficient, resilient, equitable and inclusive African blue economy.
By drawing up decisive action plans now we, as Africans, can leverage our stage of development to chart a new path, one that turns sustainable plastic waste-management and effective recycling into an engine of economic growth, societal transformation, income-generating opportunities and environmental sustainability — for the benefit of our oceans and all who depend on them.
A future free of plastic pollution is not a future free from plastic. It is, however, a future where plastic is valued and is produced according to design principles that ensures that, when it is sent for recycling, it will be made into a new and useful product.
It is a future where plastics are kept within the circular economy at its highest value and at the lowest cost to the consumer. It is a future where the people of Africa and her seas flourish together.
Janine Osborne is the chief executive officer of the Sustainable Seas Trust.