The 5th session of the United Nations Environment Assembly from February 28 in Nairobi will create momentum for governments to build on and catalyse the impact of multilateral environmental efforts to protect and restore the natural world on which our economies and societies depend.
One of the key areas of deliberations and negotiations at UNEA will focus on a new international treaty to address the plastic crisis and marine litter that has turned into a big menace in Africa, on land and in communities far from the coastlines.
Currently 11 million tonnes of plastic are dumped into the ocean each year and this figure is projected to double by 2030 and nearly triple by 2040. According to research, Africa’s total mismanaged plastic waste may more than double from 4.4 million tonnes in 2010 to 10.5 million tonnes in 2025.
Africa holds 19 of the world’s 50 biggest dumpsites and more will be opened if member states to UNEA fail to find an urgent solution to the plastic menace through a global treaty.
The solution is not simply waste management, it’s about the responsibility of the chemical and plastic industries for their plastic products.
Africa is not a major plastic or chemical producer, yet toxic chemicals in plastic cross our borders under the guise of new plastic products and used plastic material for recycling.
If unregulated, Africa will continue to be one of the global dumping sites for unregulated plastics from sources abroad via these countries’ fake solutions in the name of recycling and promoting a circular economy.
Africa cannot keep up with the barrage of plastics being exported to her, nor manage the plastic that is already here. More than 90 per cent of waste generated in Africa is disposed of at uncontrolled dumpsites and landfills, often with associated open burning.
Compounding the problem of visible plastic waste is the invisible toxic threats to our health from the chemicals used to make plastics. Many of the chemicals used to make plastics are hazardous. Many of us have no idea that we are inviting toxic chemicals into our homes in plastic products we can purchase at the market.
Last week a new series of reports revealed how plastics poison the circular economy with data from several countries, including Tanzania, where toxic chemicals restricted in Europe were detected in new plastic baby bottles. In other words, African children are being exposed to toxic chemicals in plastics and there are no international controls on these hazardous chemicals in plastics.
There's a lack of transparency on what chemicals are added to plastics during production, and there are no international rules that force plastic producers to label or disclose what is in their products. It makes it impossible for African consumers and recyclers to know what chemicals are present in the plastics going into shopping bags or the recycling process.
This means that in addition to the visible impacts of plastic pollution, the chemical pollution caused by how plastic wastes are currently managed can harm human health and cause widespread environmental pollution.
The toxic circular economy is exposing people to health impacts such as cancers, diabetes, kidney, liver and thyroid impacts; metabolic disorders, neurological impacts, inflammation, alterations to male and female reproductive development and infertility.
Plastics containing toxic chemicals should not be recycled. Instead, they should be considered non-circular materials.
A recent report on widespread chemical contamination of recycled plastic pellets shows that almost all plastics contain toxic chemicals that are not removed during recycling but are carried over to the new products, and the recycling process can even generate new toxic chemicals such as dioxins.
To stop toxic chemical additives in plastics damaging the circular economy, UNEA should redesign products to allow for a toxic-free circular economy, including phasing out toxic chemical additives and avoiding the use of alternatives that are known or suspected to be toxic.
Some of the chemicals that are commonly added to plastic include endocrine-disrupting chemicals such as bisphenols, phthalates, benzotriazole, UV stabilisers, heavy metals and brominated flame retardants.
As nations gather for UNEA, policymakers from Africa with the support of other countries, including the EU, have tabled a proposal for a new plastic treaty to address hazardous chemicals in plastics as well as plastic production.
Unfortunately, countries from major plastic and chemical producing and exporting nations want to make the treaty only about plastic waste management, denying the reality of how plastics poison our countries.
If adopted, the treaty must address hazardous chemicals in plastics as well as design that will hold polluters legally and financially accountable. It will provide remedies to affected communities, and mitigate the toxic impacts plastics and their toxic additives have on the enjoyment of human rights throughout their life cycle, particularly in communities that are the least responsible for plastic production.
As days move, all eyes are on UNEA to see if the major plastic and chemical producers will deny the science and the harm that plastics plague our generation with. Will a few countries do the bidding of the oil, gas and chemicals industry – which makes plastic and promotes the adaptation of fake solutions branded as recycling or plastic fuel?
The plastics crisis is on the same scale as the climate crisis, with plastic’s toxic chemicals threatening our future. What we learnt in 2021, is that it took 26 Climate Conferences of the Parties to finally name fossil fuels in the policy.
African leadership has an opportunity to unite at UNEA to define what a new plastic treaty negotiation should look like. Global controls on toxics in plastics is essential. We can’t wait.
CEJAD Kenya AND IPEN Africa communications adviser
