A water and sanitation expert, Patrick Apoya, has lamented the indiscriminate disposal of plastics in the country, insisting that less than two percent of plastics generated as waste are recycled.

According to him, the lackluster approach in dealing with the plastic menace is worrying and does not augur well for the country. He revealed that a lot of people are aware about the dangers associated with plastics and its impact on the environment, although much isn’t done to properly address it.

Mr Apoya indicated that the plastic situation makes him question whether “tangible achievements” have been made despite years of deliberations and public discourse in dealing with plastics.

“… When you put everything together, we are seeing less than 2% of our plastics are being recycled [and] not more than 10% of whatever we generate is even managed. When you think about it that plastics, because of their very nature are easily swept into our ocean by water and waves, we should not be surprised about what is happening. But what is surprising is actually what we are unable to do even though we have been singing we will do.”
Patrick Apoya

Mr Apoya stated that the plastic menace is agelong and despite the initiatives and efforts by the ministry of sanitation and water resources and the ministry of environment, plastic management and elimination has proven rather difficult to manage. He explained that the problem still appears to be untouched.

“I can attribute this to the fact that the government or policy makers are torn between extreme problematic ideas of civil societies and environmentalists on one hand, who are calling for an outright ban on plastics, then the plastic advocacy, which is a huge lobby group involving the manufacturers and heavy traders in plastics who quickly oppose other ideas [by insisting] recycling creates jobs. “
Patrick Apoya

Ban of one-use plastics

The sanitation expert noted that the government is seemingly “confused and torn” between what to do, especially as it is confronted with civil society and environmental lobbyists who are not helping enough to look at which plastics pose the biggest problem. He stated that the problem can always be pointed to the “one-use plastics” which should be considered for banning.

“We have reached a stage where we should take a bold step and say that look, we are not saying ban all plastics [but] one-use plastics, which constitute the majority of the menace, let’s take a look at it. That is just what we are stuck in and are unable to take a decision.”
Patrick Apoya

Mr Apoya emphasized that although it is everybody’s responsibility to ensure the prevention of plastic proliferation in the country, the onus lies on government to spearhead the move. He revealed that in situations where there are interest groups who are divided on how to address the issue holistically, it can impede any progress.

“… When you have communities who have been swamped by strong marketing drives and our lives are now tied to the plastics, then it is government who has to be very decisive in bringing all the data together and look at what is in the best interest of the public and making sure that those measures are actually put in place and enforced…”
Patrick Apoya

In spite of the slow progress in addressing plastic waste, Mr Apoya lauded the efforts by the ministry of environment and ministry of sanitation and water resources for being committed to bringing out solutions. He however lamented that the ministries are not backed by the funding that’s required to tackle the situation.

“We know we are in a national crisis, but even before we got into this crisis in terms of our financial situation, the ministry of sanitation and water resources was really never funded… It was business as usual; you could see the ministry has a very clear program but there was nothing to back those actions to see the impact that government want to see in the area of sanitation. So, that’s why I think ultimately, government has to take the blame but when I say government, it goes beyond just the frontline agencies that are mandated to deal with the problem…”
Patrick Apoya