Africa-Press – Tanzania. Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, have joined hands to fight plastic pollution in East African region.
The countries have joined efforts to fight against plastic pollution through a Single-Use Plastic Free East African Community campaign which advocates against the use of single-use plastic in the region.
The camping that goes with hashtag #SUPfreeEAC (Single-Use Plastic Free East African Community) has been initiated through a coalition of four organizations namely Centre for Environment Justice and Development (CEJAD), Global Initiative for Environment and Reconciliation (GER), Bio Vision Africa (BiVA), and Nipe Fagio.
Briefing about the campaign, Nipe Fagio’s Executive Director, Ms Ana Le Rocha, said that the campaign pushes for a phase-out on the production of single-use plastics and end plastic pollution in the region.
She said the four organisations in the region will focus on producers to reveal their plastic production, waste pickers to be included in waste management streams.
Moreover, she said, the campaign intends to phase-out single-use plastic and publishing of reports and data that support the campaign.
“Together with a coalition of partners, we’re working on a petition that is going to be shared in the four countries to advocate for policies and laws that end the production of single-use plastic in the region,” said Ms Rocha.
She added that “we need to show that citizens call for actions on plastic pollution and that we are concerned about the pollution affecting our environment and public health”.
East Africa is the region with largest number of plastic bans in the world, with Rwanda being a significant success case and Kenya having the highest penalty for non-compliance to regulations in the globe.
Therefore, the EAC can become a global example and the first single-use plastic free zone in the world. Granting this petition will be a powerful first step in the right direction,” she added.
She called for support from organizations, activists, and environmentalists as soon as the petition is shared to end plastic pollution otherwise plastic will remain in our environment for thousands of years, damaging our health, the environment, and the economy.
“We can’t keep paying the price of inaction. No country can solve this global crisis alone, we must do it together,” she noted.
She said the campaign doesn’t belong to any single organization, it is meant to be a collective action.
She urged the public to join the campaign and take swift action to support the #SUPfreeEAC to reduce single-use plastics and advocate for Extended Producer Responsibility.
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