Bid to stop plastics’ imports

MANZINI – Stakeholders want government to ban single use plastic imports. 'uring their workshop held at The *eorge Hotel in Man]ini on Wednesday, they said only bio degradable plastics should be allowed in the country.

They said the border gates should make it a point to block those plastics that would pollute the country¶s envi ronment.

More than per cent of the single use plastics are reportedly coming from South Africa.

The country spends over ( million in importations of plastic products.

It must be said that the objectives of the workshop hosted by Women Unlimited and funded by UNDP sought to achieve the following

◗ To introduce and provide an over view of the (swatini =ero 3lastic &ontamination Initiative and obtain stakeholder buy in.

To initiate an inclusive consultative process on sustainable plastic waste management solutions and gathering of evidence on best practices. Launch a platform for stakeholder mapping and networking for plastic waste management initiatives. A South African based company styled 1ew %iodegradable &o. 1%& LL& was invited to make a presentation, wherein it said that it has game chang ing technologies for the biodegradable plastic sector.

'egradable plastics are designed to breakdown over specific timeframes either biologically or mechanically.

&aritus Maselesele, the %usiness 'evelopment ([ecutive for 1%& LL&,

◗

◗ stated that only nine per cent of all plastic waste ever produced has been recycled.

Making reference to the study by the 8nited 1ations (nvironment 3ro gramme 81(3 , he said about per cent has been incinerated, while the rest ± per cent has accumulated in land fills, dumps or the natural environment.

He said a technology called terra plas naturally accelerated the biodegradation process of plastic and rubber products in landfills, marine and soil environments.

DEVELOPMENT

The business development e[ecutive e[plained to the participants that the

1ew %iodegradable &o. 1%& LL& is an e[clusive distributor of the compa ny and distributed the economical and organic additive terra plas, pointing to the fact though that it was costly.

ManToba =wane, an e[pert in waste management, said they should look into the plastic from a broader perspective. He said it was common that people considered only the food chain plastic as a threat to the environment.

=wane rhetorically asked ³What could happen if we eliminate all the plastics"´ He said it was unfair to talk about the ban of plastics when others were actually importing it. He e[plained that plastics were a combination of polymers and additives. =wane further e[plained that additives were chemical substances that were added to the plas tic to give it the properties desired for commercial or industrial use. The e[pert mentioned that they included materials such as plasticisers and flame retardants. He pointed to the fact that some of these substances disturbed the hormone bal ance in animals and humans. Another area of concern is the effect of nanoplas tics, =wane said. He said these particles were so small that they could easily pen etrate the body depending on the si]e it may penetrate organ tissue whether in the brain or in the gut and cells. He said the poisonous particles could cause local inflammation and all kinds of physiological effects, some of which were yet to be researched thoroughly. The e[pert in waste management also referred to the 81¶s millennium goals on pollution. He said the si[th goal de termined that the Tuality of freshwater should be improved.

He said nations agreed that the pollu tion of inland bodies of water should be reduced with much more water needed to be purified in order to increase the amount available for safe consumption.

He noted that the effective collection and processing of waste, although seen as a basic and indispensable service, was missing in many cities and other residential communities.

POPULATION

This, he said, caused many problems, especially in areas of dense population.

He pointed out that mass production and consumption of plastic, especially single use packaging plastic, were ma Mor contributors to plastic pollution in the sea and on land.

He mentioned that such pollution had a negative influence on the functioning of ecosystems as it endangered animal lives as well as the food supply of large groups of people. =wane said the burning of all the plastic as a form of waste management contributed to to[ic air pollution. He suggested that the best way to promote the 81 millennium goals, mainly S'* , was through an absolute reduction in plastics. He went on to say that the stimulation and improved effectiveness of recycling were not sufficient and did not present a realistic solution to the plastic challenge at this point in time.

He suggested that preventing plastic in the environment avoiding health risks and absolute reduction of plastic should be considered as a step in the right di rection. He said almost all plastic was made from fossil fuels, especially oil and shale gas. As a result, he e[plained that the production of plastic used a lot