Private sector has role in plastic waste war
What you need to know:
While plastic pollution needs to be addressed at the policy level, we can all start by changing the way we use and discard plastic.
The private sector is crucial in this regard in spearheading sustainable solutions.
The first step for businesses should be to reduce the use of single-use plastic.
Kenya’s ban on plastic carrier bags will set it among the few countries to implement this revolutionary policy, affording it a high table seat among global icons of environmental protection.
It may sound radical but this move has driven home the message that Kenya is serious about protecting the environment, its resources, rivers and other water bodies.
We are being challenged by a plastic invasion. Our towns, our backyards, the roadsides and estates are littered with plastic wrappings, bottles, containers and other material. Many of these end up in rivers, lakes and down at the Indian Ocean and, if we do not do something drastic to stop the menace, we could live to regret the mistakes.
KILLING ANIMALS
Some 100 million marine animals die due to discarded plastic yearly and, by 2050, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s ‘The New Plastics Economy’ report says, there will be more plastic than fish in the oceans.
By adding to Kenya’s garbage patch, killing many species of birds and marine animals, and sitting in landfills for hundreds of years without decomposing, plastic bags do far more destruction to the environment than they help their users.
Before August 28 last year, when the government effected the ban on the use, manufacture or importation of plastic bags, most of the anti-plastic effort was voluntary, pushed mainly by the private sector.
SYSTEMIC REFORM
But, valuable as they are, voluntary efforts cannot achieve what systemic reform can. It is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that the Environmental Management and Coordination Act, the overarching law that enables anti-pollution rules to be issued, is implemented in letter and spirit.
While plastic pollution needs to be addressed at the policy level, we can all start by changing the way we use and discard plastic. The private sector is crucial in this regard in spearheading sustainable solutions. The first step for businesses should be to reduce the use of single-use plastic.
According to the World Economic Forum, plastic packaging waste represents an $80–120 billion loss to the global economy every year.
CLOSED LOOP
Adopting the restorative and regenerative circular economy means materials constantly flow around a ‘closed loop’ system, not used once and discarded. As a result, the value of materials, including plastics, is not lost.
Manufacturers can ensure all plastic packaging is reusable, recyclable or compostable.
This initiative is also key to achieving several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) — including sustainable consumption and production (12), climate action (13), life below water (14) and partnerships for the goals (17).
GREENER FUTURE
The heaps of growing plastic waste across our major towns are a wake-up call for industries, conglomerates and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to eliminate the use of avoidable plastic waste.
Leadership is crucial in driving this change from consumer goods manufacturers, packaging firms, waste management companies and governments. We must implant in consumers a recycling habit.
The government, individual Kenyans and companies that operate in the country should support the plastic bag ban to help to move the world towards a greener future.
Mr Apsey is the CEO of Unilever East Africa. [email protected]
