Plastic Recycling in Africa

WasteAid are a charity focussed on helping to improve conditions for people in developing nations through education on waste management and recycling. Tackling some of the largest polluters on the planet, WasteAid are addressing the devastating effects plastic pollution can have not just locally but globally. Many developing nations struggle to keep up with the Western world’s perspective and technology on these problems, with 95% river-borne ocean plastics pollution stemming from just 10 rivers in Africa, South Asia and China[1], for example. We must recognise that the crisis at hand is a global issue and should be treated as such, and hence, we must work together to create a cleaner future for everyone.

A switch to using paper/card recycled straws, while a step in the right direction, is a mere drop in the ocean (pun intended) in the context of the larger pollution problems we face. Many corporations capitalise on the current trends of environmental virtue with such gestures, while continuing to export enormous amounts of waste to the third world. Unfortunately, many developing nations do not implement disposal practices comparable to the west, resulting in a growing disproportion of the origin of pollutants. In order to tackle this we must pay attention to our impact as humans globally, not just locally.

WasteAid, operating since 2015, have set up 27 community recycling centres and had an impact on over 45,000 people, winning a national Energy Globe Award in 2016.

WasteAid are taking action where it counts, addressing this problem in developing countries; helping set up waste management and recycling businesses where people have poor or even no waste management systems at all.

The charity has set up projects in Kenya, Ghana, Somaliland and the Gambia. Furthermore, they helped host Africa’s first community waste management conference, inviting 70 delegates from African nations to take part in workshops on waste management and recycling.

Join us in helping support this project to create a cleaner and more sustainable future for everyone by donating to WasteAid below.

[1] Dr Christian Schmidt, a hydrogeologist at Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) in Leipzig