Wal-Mart Raises the Bar But Africa Still Clogged by Plastics

On this take-life-simple site that I like to visit, one blogger who goes by the name Brani put a petition asking people to promise that they were to shun going out shopping with new plastic bags each time they visited a supermarket.

The petition: “Promise to reuse bag” read: “I will re-use plastic supermarket bags or get a pretty plastic/cotton bag that I can carry everywhere in case I need it but I want 10 other people to do the same.” It attracted 11 more people who made a similar commitment.

Writing from somewhere in the UK, Brani was inspired by documentaries on sea life being swamped with plastic rubbish. That supermarkets are one of the largest contributors to the plastics menace goes without doubt.

In countries with little or no legislation, non biodegradable plastics are choking life out of flora and fauna in urban areas and slum communities are bearing the biggest brunt. In South Africa, plastic bags have been dubbed the “national flower” because so many can be seen flapping from fences and caught in bushes.

A visit to the one-million population Kibera, arguably Africa’s largest, or Mathare Valley across the city of Nairobi, once touted as the “Green City in the Sun”, is an eye-opener to the effect of plastics to the environment.

• » See also: On the Brink of Extinction: Call to Close Cruel and Inhumane Tiger Farms
• » Get EcoLocalizer by RSS or sign up by email.

A few people, however, are noticing and have started to act, or prompt the government to act.

But news that the Wal-Mart retail chain had ventured into cyberspace to entice more green ideas for its sustainability goals is welcome indeed in the green-savvy community.

To them, sustainability is a whole business concept that revolves around social, economic and environmental practices.

This is demonstrated in their commitment ideals that include reducing green gas emissions, curtailing energy requirements in their 6,600 store facilities both in the US and abroad, cutting on energy consumption, embracing green efficiency in their logistics, reducing package sizes and use of recycled materials, and promoting increased sustainability in their supply chain and land use. Well said. But anything else aside, that is all we’ve got to look at about Wal-Mart.

From Cape Town to Nairobi to Addis Ababa to Cairo, I am yet to see any retain chains (yes, but not as sumptuous like those in the West) that speak so boldly about their green ideals. In Africa, the biggest challenge for such retail operators remain the grocery plastic bag - and this is our focus today. It is heartening that Tanzania has imposed a total ban on plastic grocery bag packaging.

One large chain in Nairobi introduced a bit of environmentally friendly shopping in 2005 and two years later, the Kenyan government banned plastic bag importation or restricted their usage by way of punitive taxation, following in the heels of governments in Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. According to UNEP, for the last few years, 48 million plastic bags find their way into the Kenyan ecosystem in any given year.

It is estimated that more than 100 million light polythene bags, mostly thinner than 30 microns, are dished out each year in Kenyan supermarkets, translating to more than 4,000 tons of the bags every month according to a study by the National Environmental Management Authority and the state-run Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis.

Some enterprising fellow ought to explore the potentially lucrative business opportunity of introducing bio-degradable supermarket shopping packaging like the ACME reusable bags as more governments and the private sector relent under increased pressure from conservation groups to enforce or embrace more environmentally friendly and sustainable packaging.

Having sustainability and the environment to factor in shopping experience, however, is proving costly for everybody. In Kenya, workers have been laid off as industries struggle to comply with the new regulations that impose a 120% excise tax on plastic packaging. Many plants are forced to retool their production lines or source more expensive packaging materials.

Manufacturers have passed to consumers the extra costs in the production of essential commodities. But a consumer tax to discourage usage of plastic bags has been counter productive because there has been no significant recorded reduction in plastic bag usage by shoppers. Instead, prices have shot up significantly and now experts are turning to the prospect a green levy to protect the environment. Plastic disposal has been identified as the problem and not usage.

A government environmental agency and Nobel laureate, Wangari Maathai’s Green Belt Movement are both agreed that the green levy could be used to clean up the environment, set up recycling systems and waste disposal sites and conduct media campaigns to educate consumers on waste separation at household level.

Lack of stiff legal or financial penalties to discourage smuggling of cheaper but more harmful plastic products and the fact that shoppers in Africa are more receptive to free plastic bags each time they go shopping could be slowing any progress made.

What do you think?

Photo credit: Flickr

Tweet This Post