Plastics are the newest, most persistent mode of modern-day slavery, or should we call it rightly, “Neocolonialism”? Plastic pollution is as much a menace as the petroleum sources that see it to life. Since the discovery of fossil fuels and the extraction of oil to power global economies, human consumption has increased just as the need to produce more and more plastic products skyrocketed.
THE MARKETS & BENEFACTORS
Most of the big oil and fossil fuel industries operate on the premise of: as long as we make convenient products that serve the customers ignorance, then we are in business. This is the rhetoric that has held strong since the dawn of the plastic revolution. From thin and flimsy packaging bags to heavy gauge, durable poly liners, storage containers to appliances, the options are plenty. As a matter of fact, everything, literally everything everywhere in today's world is to a greater proportion a plastic component.
But these things don't just come to be. In fact, they are deliberately orchestrated by the big oil industry (who, by the way, knew the dangers fossil fuels would cause to the world, as early as they began their production systems of petroleum products). You see, most of the plastic we see everyday has its 1st origin in the biggest polluting countries, who mine, transport and refine petroleum products to maximize every bit of the dirt continued in the crude. Plastics are a big economy that is then availed to the local markets as better and recyclable materials. The problem is that after these materials have served their lifetime (obviously there is no such thing, they just get spent), big brothers now focus on how fast to eliminate these materials from their societies, particularly by exporting them abroad. Usually, through trade deals between Global North and Global South countries, the deals that enable this are striked. In the process, only a few people benefit off of these deals, and the majority of citizens in the recipient Southern countries are the ones that bear the cost of managing the unrecyclable materials, as well as finding ways of existing with the plastic menace in the environment.
Currently, the US is attempting to negotiate a trade deal with Kenya specifically about this. The Kenya-US trade deal briefly is a recent negotiation phase between the two countries. ACC (American Chemical Council) members, including Shell, Exxon, among others, have been pushing to influence the US negotiators to have Kenya loosen her strict plastic ban. This, if successful, will open Kenya as Africa's first-stop hub for plastic imports from the US. The drive here being that there is an economic market for plastic recycling investments in Kenya. Notably, Kenya's Undersecretary general to the UNCTAD, Mukhisa Kituyi termed the trade deal unfavourable. The question therefore is; have Kenyans and Africans at large asked for the establishment of a plastic recycling economy, especially for plastic waste they do not produce in the first place?
HEALTH CONCERNS
Burning of plastics is one of the most common ways of eliminating it or partially removing it from the environment. This is quite common in many Global South countries. Neither urban areas or rural areas are spared. Burning plastics produces carcinogenic substances which are a peril to human health & well-being, as well as general environmental health.
But again, we need not to go further outside of Kenya to know whose hands are directly influencing such deals. Who stands to gain in the end? A critical eye would single out the big plastic manufacturers in Kenya, who stand to gain if the deal goes through or if the ban was to be loosened. For most of them, there is nothing wrong with having an array of filthy plastics clogging our systems. As of March 2018, over 2,000 metric tonnes of plastic ended in Nairobi`s Dandora dumpsite site. Yet, as highlighted by a study funded by Kenya`s National Environment Authority that informed the implementation of the plastic ban in 2017, over 50% of cows' stomachs examined in the slaughterhouse contained plastics. These are mostly cows raised near Kenyan cities as livestock for the meat and dairy industries. And all this meat or dairy is consumed by us all. Indirectly, we consume the very filth & toxins assumed into the cows` bodies before they are slaughtered.
THE PLASTIC BAN(S)
In the past couple years, governments, in a bid to reduce plastic pollution and take action towards environmental care in their countries, have taken an active stand against the production and supply of plastics in their economics. From total bans to certain targeted bans, selected countries especially in Africa (and other parts of the developing world where there has been a recurrent issue with plastics) have enacted this through national legislation and supervision from environmental bodies. Kenya and Rwanda are among the first such countries to put a ban on plastic bags, and further provide sustainable alternatives. Kenya`s plastic carrier bags ban came into effect in August 2017, and its subsequent single use plastic ban affected in 2020. To date, at least 16 African countries have taxed or banned disposable plastic bags, including Uganda, Tanzania and Morocco. If you toured Kenya before then, and visit again now, you’d clearly see the evident transformation. A pre-plastic ban Kenya was thronged with plastic filth along major highways, in all cities (major cities included), AND ACROSS ALL SETTLEMENTS. Many dumpsites were clouded with smoke and stench that defined most of the urban informal settlements. Although now not everything is dazzling clean, the difference is undeniable. We want this to continue, and for our environment to get a chance to breathe, so that we also breathe quality air in the end.
But the plastic bans do not serve to the interests of the polluters or big oil brothers. In fact, it leaves them stranded with no disposal routes of their trash. China on the other hand, who had been the perennial recipient economy of most of the world`s plastics, has shut its ports from further plastic imports. This has had a terrible impact on the cost of managing plastics. At the same time, fossil fuels are swiftly being phased out in favor of renewable energy, and most people are turning investments towards renewables. Obviously, this leaves the already established fossil fuels industry crumbling, and the only way to fake relevance is to find new “allies'' who can be the next dumping grounds for such plastics. This has been the exact case for Kenya. In the recent Kenya-US trade deal negotiations, the ACC (definitely speaking in favor of eliminating their existing plastic waste) has been pushing for Kenya to lift her strict measures put in place by the plastic ban. Seemingly a hidden agenda that only got cracked by those dedicated to reveal the truth, it is evident that such trade deals amount to nothing good except constant extortion and manipulation of the Global South, and our leaders-negotiators are hugely to blame. The lie that there is a need to support a recycling economy in Kenya is the biggest rip off of our time. Because this is forcefully being given to us, we have not asked for it, neither have we said we desperately need it! PERIOD!!! On the other hand, what the ACC could do, is to advise its government to take the responsibility of dealing with the very humongous plastic waste they produced. Dumping it on Southern countries only creates more room for irresponsible constant production of such killer products, for as long as they have created a lasting cycle to recycle such materials abroad. But really, is this really recycling or just another way to continue dumping plastics in developing countries, who actually lack the infrastructure and systems to recycle and manage the products already existing in their countries?
GROWING ADVOCACY VOICE
Clearly developing countries, especially in Africa, are already choking in plastics. This has led to health related issues, and a lag in economies as more resources are driven towards collection, sorting and transport, or active management of plastics. But this does not have to be this way. Kenya, as a model country in Africa, has come a long way to be where we are at the moment. The ban did not just happen, but was a series of constant pushes from civil society and environmental groups, and a dialogue between government, manufacturers and other stakeholders to make the most reasonable decisions at the time. This is how strong our voices have been here. And we shall continue to do that. Letting plastics find their way back to Kenya is a disaster we cannot begin to fathom. We have covered much progress to even for a second consider that. Now is the time to be even more ambitious and find more sustainable alternatives for most sectors. Some courageous voices and statements of Kenyans, friends of Kenya (abroad) and Kenyan environmental groups standing up against this;
"Earth Uprising International stands with the Kenya Environmental Activists Network (KEAN) and other activists in Kenya who are fighting against the proposed trade deal, and the fossil-fuel corporations pushing for it, that would weaken plastic regulations, create more pollution, and continue the importation of foreign plastic garbage. This is an important issue that will affect the livelihoods of Kenyans now and in the future so we must join together to demand environmental justice."- Mohammad Ahmadi, Earth Uprising International Communications Coordinator (earthuprising.org)
“These US petrochemical companies are shamelessly targeting the low and middle income African countries. We are not pawns, we say NO to your plastics!!! Manage your trash!!!! We won’t do it for you !! ”- Makheti Tracy, Greenpeace Kenya volunteer
“Why do we have to force on accountability every damn time? We worked hard to push the plastic ban, we work hard to clean up our communities and then trash talks in the form of the American Chemistry Council wants to flood this progress. Say no!“ - Chemitei Janet, Greenpeace Kenya volunteer.
Greenpeace Africa article: 5 Influential Voices Spoke up for Kenya's Plastic Ban- and you should too!
WHAT NEXT?
Now, we act. We keep pushing for more strict measures for Kenya to keep on shunning the plastic menace, while supporting innovative and sustainable alternatives. To this end, we have been supporting the signing of a petition asking Kenya not to backslide on the plastic ban.
You can:
Sign the petition led by Greenpeace here.
Sign the petition led by Kenya Environmental Activists Network as a climate or environment focused movement or organization here.
Sign the petition led by Kenya Environmental Activists Network as an individual, climate activist or environmentalist here.
Join the Online Climate Strike for Nairobi which will follow the delivery of the letter. More details and registration here.
There is a resource to better understand the context and background of all these, through an exposé done by The New York Times called Big Oil is in Trouble. Its Plan: Flood Africa with Plastic. But we are not just about acting online and forgetting to mobilize physically and on-the-ground. Currently, Kenyan civil society and environmental groups are putting together a strategy and actions to lobby against this, with a big protest planned for September 25 2020, and an open letter which you can sign on once it is made public after the 25th.. You could be part of this and share ideas into things we can incorporate to amplify our voices. Together we can conquer the impossible.
The advocacy conversation against Kenya-US trade deal on plastics supported by, among others;
Greenpeace Kenya
Kenya Environmental Activists Network
Polluters Out
XR Kenya
Spice Warriors
Earth Uprising
All in for Climate Action Kenya
Kenyan citizens
Photo credits: Greenpeace Kenya volunteers
Author: Kaluki Paul Mutuku- Regional Director for Africa at Youth4Nature