Africa’s Leader in Plastic Waste Management is Rwanda
The greatest difficulty in waste management is caused by the creation, usage, and disposal of plastics. The threat posed by plastic garbage has not yet been eliminated, despite the fact that several governments have put in place legislative measures and even signed international accords.
Plastic Waste Management
Plastic pollution is still a major issue throughout Africa, endangering people’s health, the environment, and the ecosystem that supports millions of people. But despite this difficulty, Rwanda continues to lead the way in trash management, garnering Kigali, the name of “Africa’s cleanest city,” for its capital. One of the long-term plans for Rwanda to become a green and climate-resilient country was the banning of non-biodegradable plastic bags in 2008. This was followed by the banning of single-use plastic items.
The prohibition was put in place to reduce the risks that plastic waste poses to the environment, farm animals, marine life, and humans. In Rwanda, where there is currently strong institutional and political will, legal frameworks, and citizens engaged in eradicating plastic waste, socioeconomic development and environmental protection are promoted, claims a World Bank report.
“Whatever cannot be recycled or reused must not be produced” is the national motto for sustainable environmental management.
National laws and regulations that enable it
A number of national policies and laws are also in place in the nation to manage general pollution, including the Law on the Environment (48/2018 of August 13, 2018), the Rwanda Green Growth and Climate Resilience Strategy, Vision 2020 from 2000, and the Regulations of Solid Waste Recycling from 2015.
In addition, Rwanda has special laws or policies that address the management of plastic trash. Among these is Law No. 57/2008 on September 10, 2008, which forbids the manufacture, importation, use, and sale of polythene bags in Rwanda (2008).
Having a Common Goal and Coming Together
Additionally, Rwanda has kept to its promises to make ambitious improvements in the use, management, and disposal of plastics in the nation as a signatory to international treaties.
For instance, the nation aspires to support the ambitious goals of the Paris Agreement as a signatory to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Rwanda’s approach to managing plastic pollution fits into a larger strategic, legal, and policy framework that serves as the cornerstone for waste management.
But the local community’s support is necessary for these promises to truly take hold. Umuganda, a Kinyarwanda word that means “coming together in the same purpose,” is one way that this has manifested in Rwanda.
As part of the attempts to reconstruct the country after the 1994 genocide, it is a monthly communal service (including community clean-up) that was reintroduced to Rwandan society in 1998. Today, every physically capable Rwandan between the ages of 18 and 65 participates in the event, which begins at 8:00 on the last Saturday of each month and lasts at least three hours.
Inventors’ home
A committed group of innovators in the field of plastic waste management has also been developed in Rwanda. These consist of the Afri-Plastics Challenge finalists CareMeBioplastics and Toto Safi. These small and medium-sized businesses highlight the expanding involvement of the private sector in the plastic value chain, especially in the African environment where public infrastructure and services are scarce, if not nonexistent, in some areas. Utilizing a mobile app, CareMeBioplastics engages in the collection and recycling of plastic. After processing the collected plastic, the company turns the waste into useful items like school desks and both indoor and outdoor furniture.
A service that provides reusable cloth diapers is Toto Safi’s response so that parents do not have to pick between convenience and environmental impact. Parents will be able to order a fresh bundle of sterile, reasonably priced cloth diapers through this app. These two pioneers stand in for the broader activity and dedication that Rwanda’s landscape is supporting. They also show how crucial public-private collaboration is to managing plastic trash.
Significant Obstacles
Despite remarkable progress, if businesses, industries, and governments do not make investments to create effective and efficient waste management systems, Rwanda will continue to face substantial obstacles in providing waste management services.
The lack of data and data management systems for waste management makes it difficult to comprehend and create waste management policies and measure the impact of plastics policies on plastic waste recycling decrease in Rwanda, which presents another difficulty.
By creating a robust data management system to capture, record, and report on plastic data, the government may solve these issues. A mechanism like this is necessary to make it easier to evaluate and improve policy performance. It will make it possible for the government to better identify and evaluate opportunities for future interventions. The country will be able to better track waste accumulation, waste movements, and end destinations (e.g., tons recycled, recovered, or disposed of).
The government must also do more to encourage waste separation at the point of generation and to manage separated waste during collection and transportation by providing the appropriate financial incentives. Reduce landfill disposal, stop illegal dumping, and encourage households and organizations to separate recyclable plastics from other waste by gradually raising landfill tipping fees, fines for illegal dumping, deposit refund programs, and other financial incentives in line with the rising prosperity of society.
The private and public sectors must stop operating in separate silos because the issue impacts both. The private sector may be able to help where the public sector falls short through innovation and research, as shown by the tech startups mentioned above. A major factor in the success of these projects is also raising awareness and educating the public. It would be wise to include effective waste management, recycling, and the circular economy as a whole in the educational system. As a result, the problem is encouraged to be approached holistically and as a system, which further supports the sustainability of the entire solution.
Finally, the government must create practical systems and offer financial incentives to encourage regional companies, such as the building and manufacturing sectors, to use recycled materials in their production procedures and final goods.
These are issues that governments both in Africa and around the world must deal with. There is no question that Rwanda is a global pioneer in the management of plastic trash, and all governments should model their efforts after Rwanda in order to promote economic growth, maintain a clean environment, and enhance the health and well-being of their population.
Ellen Nimo
