Plastics: WWF lists heavy economic toll
SOUTH Africa generates an annual 41kg of plastic waste per capita, significantly higher than the global average of 29kg per annum.
There is also evidence of an increase in marine plastic debris from landbased sources, suggesting this problem is likely to grow.
These are among the findings of a WWF International commissioned report released this week, titled “Plastics: The cost to society, environment and the economy”.
The release of the report coincides with discussions taking place at the IUCN World Conservation Congress over the importance of a global solution to tackle the plastic pollution crisis.
In a case study of South Africa, the report found that the country had a weak and strained waste management system that is supported by a growing but marginalised informal waste sector.
In 2018, 35% of households did not receive weekly waste collection and 29% of household waste was not collected.
As a result, plastic leakage was high, with an estimated 79 000 tonnes of plastic leaking into the environment per year.
In positive news, the report noted that in 2020, stakeholders across the plastic packaging value chain, including the government, collectively launched the SA Plastics Pact, a national pact which is part of the international Plastics Pact network under the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
The voluntary agreement with time bound targets is an independent pre-competitive platform made up of industry members from resin producers to the informal waste sector and is supported by various NGOs, including WWF South Africa and the IUCN.
“While these measures are heading in the right direction, a global treaty could provide the global co-ordination, access to research, and financial support required to increase effectiveness of South Africa’s plastic action,” the report reads.
“The treaty could provide the financial support needed for South Africa to undertake required expansions in their waste management system to improve plastic collection rates and reduce leakage.
Agreed standards and methodologies for reporting and monitoring will also provide incentives for stakeholders in collection and recycling to maintain established collection and recycling rates and allow them to be held accountable.”
In 2003, South Africa enacted a plastic-bag legislation which included imposing a plastic bag levy and banning the use of thin-film plastic under 30 microns.
This regulation was amended this year and stipulated that all plastic bags (including those imported) must contain at least 50% recycled material beginning in 2023.
This will gradually increase to plastic bags being manufactured from 75% recycled material from January 2025 to being entirely made from “post-consumer recyclates” in January 2027.
Globally, it was found that more than 200 million tonnes of municipal solid plastic waste is produced annually - equal to nearly 523 trillion plastic straws which, if laid lengthwise, could wrap around the world approximately 2.8 million times.
The report concluded that waste management systems were inadequately prepared to deal with this large volume of plastic waste, resulting in an average of 41% of plastic waste being mismanaged.
Of this mismanaged waste, about 47% leaks into nature and becomes plastic pollution, often making its way into the ocean.
More than 11 million tonnes of plastic enter the ocean every year.