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Open response to UMA’s article on plastics in Uganda’s economy
The plastics industry is an economic asset, but unmanaged waste is a mounting liability. Uganda can industrialize and clean its environment simultaneously—but only through balanced and enforceable regulation….
Mpewo Alan Collins. (File)
By: Admin ., Journalist @New Vision
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OPINION
By Mpewo Alan Collins
Greenwatch appreciates your concern regarding the proposed excise duty on plastic raw materials in your article published in the New Vision newspaper dated Thursday, May 28, 2026, on page 11. Your article rightly noted in Paragraph One that poor waste management, and not plastics per se, is the root cause of environmental pollution. However, several key concerns in your article require scrutiny if Uganda is to design a policy that balances industrial growth with genuine environmental protection.
The Voluntary Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) systems are not a substitute for regulation. Uganda’s voluntary schemes suffer from parasitism. Manufacturers not party to such systems bear no responsibility, and there are no legally binding collection or recycling targets. Your article boasts a future ambition of 75% recycling in eight years, yet no independent audit verifies current rates. Proper management requires mandatory Extended Producer Responsibility with enforceable penalties, public reporting, and integration of informal waste collectors, none of which you clearly addressed.
Problematic non‑recyclable plastics are also ignored. Not all plastics are equal. Their differences in as far as this response is concerned are in chemical structure and recyclability. Multilayer laminates and thin carrier bags are unrecyclable in Uganda’s current infrastructure. The claims have always been that they clog sorting machines and consequently find their way into drainage channels or open burning. The Kiteezi landfill incident cannot be overemphasized. By your article defending all plastics uniformly, it sidesteps the need to phase out or tax specifically those plastics that have no circular pathway in Uganda’s current infrastructure.
The regional comparisons cited are selective. You noted that Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda offer lower excise duties on raw materials, but you leave out the fact that Kenya enforces one of Africa’s strictest plastic bag bans and mandatory Sustainable Waste Management (Extended Producer Responsibility) Regulations, 2024 under Legal Notice No. 176. Rwanda has prohibited single‑use plastics entirely since 2008 and currently enforcing the ban under Law No. 17/2019. These countries pair fiscal incentives with strong command and control instruments to enforce compliance through fines, penalties, and mandatory standards rather than incentives.
The Voluntary Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) systems are not a substitute for regulation. Uganda’s voluntary schemes suffer from parasitism. Manufacturers not party to such systems bear no responsibility, and there are no legally binding collection or recycling targets. Your article boasts a future ambition of 75% recycling in eight years, yet no independent audit verifies current rates. Proper management requires mandatory Extended Producer Responsibility with enforceable penalties, public reporting, and integration of informal waste collectors, none of which you clearly addressed.
Problematic non‑recyclable plastics are also ignored. Not all plastics are equal. Their differences in as far as this response is concerned are in chemical structure and recyclability. Multilayer laminates and thin carrier bags are unrecyclable in Uganda’s current infrastructure. The claims have always been that they clog sorting machines and consequently find their way into drainage channels or open burning. The Kiteezi landfill incident cannot be overemphasized. By your article defending all plastics uniformly, it sidesteps the need to phase out or tax specifically those plastics that have no circular pathway in Uganda’s current infrastructure.
The regional comparisons cited are selective. You noted that Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda offer lower excise duties on raw materials, but you leave out the fact that Kenya enforces one of Africa’s strictest plastic bag bans and mandatory Sustainable Waste Management (Extended Producer Responsibility) Regulations, 2024 under Legal Notice No. 176. Rwanda has prohibited single‑use plastics entirely since 2008 and currently enforcing the ban under Law No. 17/2019. These countries pair fiscal incentives with strong command and control instruments to enforce compliance through fines, penalties, and mandatory standards rather than incentives.
The inflationary burden argument in Paragraph Sixteen ignores environmental costs. While you for example cite a potential 25% price increase for a water sachet, from sh200 to sh250, it is regrettable that you do not calculate the cost of unmanaged waste. Among others, this includes flooded drainage, wetland destruction, veterinary and human health effects from microplastics. Those costs are also borne by the low‑income Ugandans you referred to, often invisibly. Proper management internalizes unintended consequences through well designed levies, but not by ignoring them.
Your data lacks independent verification. Claims of 105,000 tonnes recycled annually, $120 million invested, and 350,000 livelihoods depend on self-reporting done by Uganda Manufacturers Association members. As revealed by Dr. Akankwasa Barirega, Director at the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), ahead of World Environment Day 2025, Uganda generates around 600 metric tons of plastic waste each day, an estimate of about 219,000 tonnes a year. NEMA noted as of May, 2022 that only 5% is recycled annually in Uganda. With the noted percentage from NEMA in 2022, it seems miraculous that as of 2026, 48% of NEMA’s reported annual 219,000 tonnes a year in plastic waste is being recycled. Significant gaps remain between claimed recycling and actual environmental leakage.
The plastics industry is an economic asset, but unmanaged waste is a mounting liability. We urge Uganda Manufacturers Association to work with government on an evidence‑based fiscal framework rather than defending an untenable status quo. Uganda can industrialize and clean its environment simultaneously, but only if all parties abandon selective data. We must embrace a balanced and enforceable regulation.
The writer is Project Manager/Staff Advocate, Greenwatch
Your data lacks independent verification. Claims of 105,000 tonnes recycled annually, $120 million invested, and 350,000 livelihoods depend on self-reporting done by Uganda Manufacturers Association members. As revealed by Dr. Akankwasa Barirega, Director at the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), ahead of World Environment Day 2025, Uganda generates around 600 metric tons of plastic waste each day, an estimate of about 219,000 tonnes a year. NEMA noted as of May, 2022 that only 5% is recycled annually in Uganda. With the noted percentage from NEMA in 2022, it seems miraculous that as of 2026, 48% of NEMA’s reported annual 219,000 tonnes a year in plastic waste is being recycled. Significant gaps remain between claimed recycling and actual environmental leakage.
The plastics industry is an economic asset, but unmanaged waste is a mounting liability. We urge Uganda Manufacturers Association to work with government on an evidence‑based fiscal framework rather than defending an untenable status quo. Uganda can industrialize and clean its environment simultaneously, but only if all parties abandon selective data. We must embrace a balanced and enforceable regulation.
The writer is Project Manager/Staff Advocate, Greenwatch