EAC environmental organizations launch a petition to curb single-use plastic pollution in the region
Nipe Fagio’s youth ambassadors doing the waste and brand audits exercise at Kawe Beach in Dar es Salaam over the weekend to mark the World Earth Day which is celebrated annually on the 22nd of April.
Dar es Salaam: Tanzania - A local organisation, Nipe Fagio in collaboration with fellow East African partners CEJAD (Kenya), Bio Vision Africa (Uganda), and GER Global (Rwanda) have together launched a single-use plastic-free East African Campaign Petition to push for the enactment and compliance of a single law that guide member states to fight against plastic pollution in the region.
The move, according to Nipe Fagio's Executive Director, Ana Le Rocha is aimed at bringing into force laws that will bar single-use plastic producers to maintain their production leading to environmental pollution.
Speaking in Dar es Salaam at the weekend in an event to mark the World Earth Day in April, Ms Rocha said that single-use plastics create an increased hazard to the East African communities and to the environment.
The unregulated production of single-use plastic to wrap fast-consuming goods contributes to ill health, flooding, the climate emergency, and the strong presence of microplastics in our rivers and ocean.
She said that East Africa member states of Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda have jointly drawn up their recommendations that will lead the way to the enactment of a single law that will give guidance on how to fight plastic pollution.
To make their move possible, she said that they will present their law proposals to the East African Community ( EAC) headquarters in Arusha for further pushing action in respective regional parliaments.
"While identifying major single plastic bottles that lead to polluting the environment, we are addressing and bringing attention to the problem of plastic pollution caused by single-use plastic materials and the need for the East African Community to act fast to address the entire lifecycle of plastics," she said.
And to cement, the move, Nipe Fagio and fellow EAC partners will push for the signing of a petition to put weight on their agenda.
A 4-Year trend analysis done by Nipe Fagio in Tanzania shows that 76% of the waste found along the coast and in the environment is plastic, and it has been proved that all samples of salt tested worldwide contain microplastics, meaning that human beings are now regularly consuming microplastics, a hazardous substance made of fossil fuels.
She said the regional instigation call for the banning of single-use plastic and encourages EA countries to enact and adopt legislation that supports the sustainable production and consumption of plastics products (such as extended producer responsibility) as well as legislations that promote sustainable waste management practices such as zero waste models, re-use, and recycling of specific categories of plastic.
The organization also wants to implementation of international agreements/conventions that protect the environment, as well as encourage the government to sign international treaties/agreements that protect the environment.
She said this is a chance for the East African Community to lead by example and a critical moment to tell world leaders that we need to end the indiscriminate production of single-use plastics.
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