Tackle plastic pollution with buyback centres, says wildlife society

How about establishing buyback centres around Nelson Mandela Bay to boost plastic recycling, reduce pollution, create jobs and spark a new revenue stream?

That is the proposal from the Wildlife and Environment Society, which was commenting on the environment department’s recent announcement that the government is intending to amend plastic bag waste management legislation.    

Gary Koekemoer, chair of the society’s Algoa Bay branch, said the announcement was to be applauded but the department needed to be bold and to close off all possible loopholes.

“These centres would give poor people the chance to earn some money by taking in plastics of all kinds,” he said.

“They would provide an incentive for cleanups and increase the volume of local recyclate — recyclable plastic waste — which at the moment is insufficient to drive our plastic recycling industry.

“Various partners could get involved, but one scenario could have our metro supplying the site and then partnering with a corporate who would employ local people to run the centre.

“With fresh new volumes of recyclate available, these same partnerships could work to introduce the equipment necessary to recycle all types of single-use plastic waste, which is presently not available.

'“The buyback centres would dovetail perfectly with the government’s commitment to a zero-waste circular economy.”

Koekemoer said Nelson Mandela Bay’s notorious plastic litter adorning fences and bushes like confetti was a serious problem.

“Exposed to the sun and rain, it degrades into micro-plastic, enters our rivers, sea and air, and ends up pretty much in all the food we consume.

“We are in effect slowly poisoning ourselves along with the planet.”

On the one hand, at the moment, Bay consumers were addicted to the convenience of plastic shopping bags and, on the other hand, the metro did not have the necessary local waste processing systems or equipment to deal with all types of plastic waste, he said.

“It’s no use if local plastic bag manufacturers end up importing the recyclate and if we continue to dump used plastic bags into our landfills, letting the wind get the rest.

“So we commend the government on the initiative but we need bold steps that result in a movement comprising consumers, producers and government which work together to reduce the single-use plastic in our lives.”

All options needed to be considered, he said.

“Together with the buyback centres — how about phasing out plastic bags entirely?”

The Port Elizabeth-based Sustainable Seas Trust has said that by 2050, judging from the present trend, there will be more plastic litter entering the sea from Africa than from any other continent.

“This vast pollution, combined with habitat destruction and over-fishing, stands to collapse the ocean’s ecosystems.

“That is not only a threat to our marine environment, but also to us humans.

“In addition, addressing poverty and human health is fundamental in the fight against marine pollution. Healthy communities lead to a healthy environment.”

According to National Geographic, every year about eight million tons of plastic waste escape into the oceans from coastal nations — the equivalent of setting five garbage bags full of trash on every foot of coastline around the world.

While most studies over the past decade have focused on the damage caused by plastic pollution in the sea, recent Chinese research has pointed to serious damage to the soil caused by microplastics.

According to the organisation Global Citizen, since the 1950s about 8.3-billion tons of plastic have been produced worldwide and only 9% of it has been recycled.

HeraldLIVE