Globally over 1 million plastic bags are used and disposed every minute but I think the quota of India and Africa of the 1 million trash is much larger than that of America, Europe and Australia – comparing population. In Africa, I will congratulate Rwanda as the only country which has been able to ban plastic bags. Other countries like Ghana has once mentioned and made an attempt to ban plastics but to no avail.
In Ghana, drinking water comes in plastic sachets rather than bottle, amounting a large amount of plastic waste in the country. In 2013, a report conducted by the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) indicates that 1,200,000 Ghana Cedis (/ $400,000) can be generated in the country every a month, if the plastics go through various stages towards recycling. According a local news platform “The Ghanaian Times”, the research was submitted to the local Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology’s Committee on the Ban of Plastics in Ghana and following that, a there has been a rise in plastic recycling initiatives.
The Accra Compost and Recycling, Jekora Ventures, EnviroPlast, are some of the performing companies dealing with recycling and composting in Ghana. Additionally, there are some amazing initiatives by NGOs, Non-Profits and other small and medium scale enterprises that are championing recycling at small scale. Trash Bag is one of these organizations. Trash Bags collects water sachets from streets and recycle them into sustainable fashion products – handbags, laptop bags, market bags, etc. In other parts of Africa, these sachets are used in art making.
In Kenya, group of individuals are converting plastics waste into poles and road posts. Started in 2015 and documented by Aljazeera, this initiative in Kenya is gradually creating employment and reducing (if not eliminating) plastic waste – Watch video here:
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/11/recycling-kenya-plastic-poles-manufacturing-151123051310205.html
In Central and East Africa, a paper recycling industry is also recycling waste paper into toilet rolls, tissue paper, egg crates and many more usable products. Chandaria Industries Limited provide livelihood and employment for over 5,000 people in Kenya from waste paper recycling. Comparatively, paper and metal recycling in Africa is much industrious than plastic and e-waste recycling.
South Africa is another country that is performing relatively better than most countries in Africa – with over 50 recycling firms operating at a larger scale and converting plastic waste into chairs, pipes, polythene bags, etc.
Waste generated in middle income country is somewhat much than high income countries and I realized it is so because developed countries have more recycling initiatives than middle income countries. In Central, East, West and some parts of Northern Africa, waste is a menace. It filth our streets, choke our gutters and causes land pollution. In 2014, Agbogbloshie dumpsite in Ghana was listed as the World?s largest e-waste dumpsite. Despite several reports concerning the health hazard of the electronic waste dumpsite, the site is still home to thousands of individuals – including scavengers, smelters and market women.
Gradually, I anticipate investors and entrepreneurs to see the business opportunity in recycling electronic waste in Africa.