Newly Launched Coalition to Fight Plastic Pollution Across the World

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The governments of Rwanda and Norway have launched a new coalition to fight plastic pollution across the world, including Africa.

Incidentally, the African continent accounts for approximately 7% of the world’s total generated plastic waste, as per estimates. Several countries in the African region have been identified as major plastic polluters. For instance, the average plastic waste production by Senegal amounts to nearly 200,000 tonnes per annum, out of which only around 9,000 tonnes is recycled. This essentially means that the remaining waste ends up in land, waterways or landfills, thus polluting the environment.

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It must be noted that Senegal too has joined the coalition, thus becoming the second African country after Rwanda to be part of the planned joint efforts by the coalition.

According to Nhlanhla Sibisi, Greenpeace Africa’s Climate and Energy Campaigner, the initiative demonstrates that governments are slowly recognizing the threats posed by plastics to the life on the planet, its ecosystems and to the climate. The opposition to plastic production is expected to accelerate significantly over the next decade, Sibisi added.

The other countries to join the coalition include Canada, Peru, Germany, Georgia, the Republic of Korea, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Portugal, Chile, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Costa Rica, Iceland, Ecuador and France.