Uganda chokes on 600 tonnes of plastic waste
Apr 29, 2024
According to the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), Uganda’s population generates about 600 tonnes of plastic garbage every day.
About two-thirds of this plastic ends up as trash, which then ends up in waterways, grounds and food chains. (Courtesy Photos)
Prossy Nandudu
Journalist @New Vision
___________________ The recycling capacity for plastics is 3% compared to over 600 metric tonnes produced every day Naomi Karekaho, NEMA’s manager for corporate communications
No matter what kind of plastic you drop, it ends up in the ground, a drainage channel, or a body of water.
It could get there by wind, an animal looking for food, or someone else. In the soil, for example, Kavera slowly releases microplastics or other particles that build up and stop airflow.
This kills all the living things in the soil, including the earthworms that break down dead plants to make organic waste. In the long run, the dirt stops being useful.
The process is the same for all the other plastics. Plastics, such as bottles, broken jerrycans, and polythene bags, stop the flow of water in the drainage channels, which causes flooding.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) says every year the world produces more than 430 million tonnes of plastic.
About two-thirds of these end up as trash, which then ends up in waterways, grounds, and food chains.
UNEPI states that plastics seem to be affordable because they are used in everyday life, particularly for packaging, and many are created in appealing colours that make them alluring to purchase.
According to the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), Uganda’s population generates about 600 tonnes of plastic garbage every day.
According to sources, inadequate waste management techniques, a scarcity of recycling facilities and ineffective enforcement procedures have all contributed to this.
Naome Karekaho, NEMA’s manager for corporate communications, noted that while the organisation is working on strategies for managing plastic trash, it may take some time to see the results.
Karekaho says the problem of plastic use began in the 1980s, making it a historical challenge that cannot be easily remedied without stringent laws.
She says through concerted efforts, people need to be made aware of the difficulties associated with plastic use.
Despite the historical challenges of managing plastic waste, she explained that with UNEP support, NEMA conducted a National Source Inventory, which is a collection of statistics and dates indicating the earliest source of plastics, current sources, where the plastics come from, where they go, who are the largest users and distributors and where the plastics are dumped.
The data obtained includes a list of the largest plastic makers and importers. NEMA has also established a national strategy for plastics management based on this information, as well as drafted proposals for submission to the Cabinet.
“The proposals have a list of a wide range of plastics, proposals on how to manage them and we are yet to get a response from Cabinet on the way forward. All those are ongoing interventions which do not show immediate results,”
Karekaho adds. She said although the proposed law to ban single-use plastics was rejected, all hope is not lost.
“We are continuing with sensitisation campaigns, such as Taasa Obutonde, and clean-up campaigns like the ones we had recently in Mbale district. We are also working with the Uganda Manufacturers Association to recycle all bottles.
Failed attempts
Dr Joel Kinobe, a lecturer at the Department of Environmental Studies at Makerere University, contests the idea of plastic recycling, adding that the installed recycling capacity for plastic bottles is only 3% compared to over 600 metric tonnes of plastics being produced every day throughout the country.
He says Uganda hasn’t put in enough effort to manage plastic waste. “Uganda set up rules banning single-use kavera, but they are still on the market. And when dumped after use, they take more than 500 years to decompose because a kavera is a chemical”.
“A kavera is a chemical. It is a polymer, whose rate of disintegration is slow and can stay in the environment for between 500 and 1,000 years. But these still exist because the rules and regulations meant to stop their circulation have not been implemented,” Kinobe adds.
He says although some Naomi Karekaho supermarkets have come up with durable bags that can prevent the use of kavera, the Government should implement regulations regarding kavera and plastic waste management as a whole like it is in neighbouring countries.
“Rwanda has banned them, and Kenya and Tanzania are also in the process. When you look at what Uganda has done on plastics management, it is only some bit of recycling,” Kinobe explains.
Planet vs plastics
“Planet vs Plastics” was the theme of Earth Day around the world on April 22. The day serves as a reminder of how important it is to protect the earth and make things last.
It also encourages everyone to work together for a better future and a healthier world. To cut plastic waste in the environment by less than 60% by 2040, the UN’s Habitat for Humanity wants to bring people from all over the world together.
Peace activist John McConnell started the day to honour the Earth at the UNESCO Conference on the Environment in 1969.
Copying tips
Dr Joel Kinobe, a lecturer at the department of Environmental Studies at Makerere University, says the current recycling potential targets a particular type of plastic, especially bottles, because they attract some money.
He advocates for a robust plastic recycling programme, targeting the informal sector. for water will minimise the purchase of water in plastic bottles.
“Try to minimise buying packed water. Boil your water and use a reusable bottle, if you cannot, then reuse the plastic bottles. Go to supermarkets that offer durable carry bags as these will reduce the rate at which one buys kavera,” he says.
Kinobe also warns against burning kavera, saying it will induce health complications that may not be easily diagnosed by medical personnel.
For the plastics already dumped in the environment, he calls for clean-up campaigns led by government agencies like NEMA and a robust advocacy campaign to teach people the dangers of plastics and how best to handle them.
“A system that will bring all people who collect plastics and those who buy from them in one group, agree on a higher pay per kilo of plastics collected and if one added value by washing the bottles, an extra fee is added, which will speed up the removal of plastics from the environment,” Kinobe adds. He also believes in the use of reusable bottles.
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