One sunny afternoon during an African Cup of Nations match between Nigeria and Comoros, my son and I left home early to beat the Lagos traffic and watch the match. With the kick-off scheduled for 4 pm, the activities of sanitation workers who were clearing plastics washed from a dump during a downpour delayed us for hours. Frustrated over the situation, my son yawned and said…
“Dad, what role can technology play in monitoring and managing plastic waste?”
After clearing my throat, I responded thus…
When you visit several communities across Africa, it's very common to find illegal dumping grounds with different types of waste. To address this, drones and satellites can be used to monitor the activities of illegal refuse dumpers and enforce their arrest. In areas where plastic waste has become a perennial issue, smart waste bins with the capacity to sort plastic from other waste need to be introduced. To make the system effective, the bins should be programmed to notify authorities when they are full to optimize waste collection.
Despite global calls for the recycling of plastic, we are lagging behind due to the use of traditional mechanical recycling techniques. As a continent, we need to start investing in enzymatic and chemical recycling to effectively break down plastics into their base monomers for reuse.
One of the major reasons why plastic waste litter our communities is the absence of supply chain networks. Supply networks that will employ block chain to trace plastics from production to disposal are needed. These suppliers should also be equipped with digital identifying machines that will inform waste handlers about the material composition of plastics for easy recycling.
The Perils of Perception study conducted by Ipsos MORI in 2017 revealed that a large number of people in some of the world’s richest nations are ignorant about important topics. Out of the 29,133 people around the world who were assessed for instance, the majority were ignorant about happenings around them. If such a study was to be conducted in Africa with regards to plastic waste, what will be the result? With over 7.33 billion mobile device users expected globally according to Statista, mobile apps that can engage Africans on correct plastic disposal connect them to recyclers and aggregate data from different centres to support waste management practices.
Due to the poisonous nature of some plastic wastes, African scare away from the idea of handling them. To overcome this obstacle, robots powered with AI vision systems can be used to improve collection efficiency, reduce poisoning and safeguard the environment.
The introduction of Ocean clean up interceptors and AI modelling systems will help in forecasting where plastics waste will heap up, facilitate clean up and keep our aquatic habitats healthy.
“Buy Akara… Buy dodo… Buy meat pie… Buy your chilled bottled water.”
A group of desperate hawkers chorused along the lengthy holdup.
After declining their offer politely, my son said… “I seem not to understand. We’ve been delayed by a plastic induced traffic. Yet, these hawkers have the effrontery to continue selling bottled water!”
“Listen, Son. Many of these hawkers are from poor backgrounds. With no decent source of livelihood, they decided to seek survival through hawking”.
“But what policies can the government implement to curb plastic waste effectively on the continent?” my son questioned.
Scratching my chin, I said…
With unemployment biting than expected, African governments need to create eco-friendly job opportunities for their citizens to discourage them from engaging in businesses that perpetuate the use of non-recyclable plastics.
In addition, regulatory frameworks that will discourage the use of single use plastics, encourage the phase out of non-recyclable plastics and mandate producers to be responsible throughout the lifecycles of plastics is a necessity. This can ease the burden of plastic pollution across the continent.
Thirdly, since many of the plastic in use are imported, imposing eco-taxes will discourage their use and make consumers to seek for eco-friendly alternatives. Incentives like tax breaks and subsidies should also be provided for manufacturers and businesses that promote the use of reusable and biodegradable packaging materials.
Instead of seeing plastic as a problem, African governments need to empower and train youths to start thinking outside the box like Nigerian architect Kunlé Adeyemi and his team at NLÉ Works who designed and built the Makoko Floating School in 2013. The floating structure is a low-cost three-story A-frame, buoyed by 250 plastic barrels – which makes it movable and adaptable to changing tides and water levels.
Furthermore, many refuse dumps existent on the continent arose out of the lack of waste management infrastructures and monitoring teams. Going forward, the government needs to invest in waste collection systems, support recycling companies and train unemployed Africans to serve in geographically disadvantaged regions.
In spite of the existence of plastic laws, many Africans are still ignorant due to lack of awareness campaigns. To this end, NGOs need to collaborate with the government to embark upon educational campaigns that will sensitize Africans about proper waste management.
Instead of conducting baseless researches that does not influence the continent, African governments should fund our local institutions of learn and encourage them to embark upon jaw breaking innovations that will address the menace of plastic waste.
Although we regard ourselves as a continent, regional disparities still exists. To effectively bridge this gap and curb plastic wastes, regional blocs like ECOWAS, EAC and SADC need to harmonize plastic policies to discourage cross border dumping.
After the holdup, we arrived at the stadium in the 6oth minute of the match. With Nigeria already leading by three goals to one, we took our seat to soak in the remaining match. At the blast of the final whistle, I sent the transcript of my traffic conversation to TET Foundation to raise awareness and curb the menace of plastic waste in Africa.
References:
https://nleworks.com/case/makoko-floating-school/
www.indy100.com/news/what-is-the-most-ignorant-country-in-the-world-map-world-2107-data-8194016
htpps://www.bank.mycell.com/blog/how-many-phones-are-in-the-world