Negotiators and observers from around the world are meeting in Canada until April 29 to forge a treaty to stop the rapidly escalating problem of plastic pollution.
Thousands of miles from the Shaw Center conference center in Ottawa, Kenyans struggle every day to cope with the volume of plastic waste that ends up in their country.
This problem is solved by the workers of the Pura Terra recycling plant in Nairobi, Kenya.
“As the only company in this area, we realize that we can't be able to solve all the plastics that come in. So one thing we expect from the meeting that's happening in Canada is that they come up with policies that will help us.” , so that we can, 100% of the plastics produced will be 100% recycled.”
The company's website states that 2,000 tonnes of waste are generated daily in Kenya, and it is estimated that by 2030 it will be an estimated 5.5 million tonnes of waste per year.
In March 2022, 175 countries agreed to conclude the first legally binding treaty on plastic pollution, including in the oceans, by the end of 2024.
The week-long conference in Canada is the fourth meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC).
Its president insisted on the stake: “Our collective responsibility and duty in this INC process is to present a treaty that reflects (the) urgency of ending (the) plastic pollution crisis and that will meet the expectations of citizens in all our countries who are calling for change,” said Luis Vayas Valdivieso.
Negotiators in Ottawa must streamline the existing draft treaty and decide on its scope: whether it will focus on human health and the environment, whether it will limit the production of plastics itself, and whether it will limit some of the chemicals used in plastics.
Petrochemicals and oil production
These are the elements that the self-proclaimed “coalition of high ambitions” of countries wants to see.
Alternatively, the deal could be more limited in scope and focus on plastic waste and more recycling, as some plastic producers and oil and gas exporters want.
Azarius Karanja, who leads environmental issues, sets out what he sees as priorities.
“Ideally, we'd like to see a focus on solutions like scaling for reuse and replenishment solutions,” he says.
Arguing countries in the global south, including African nations, bear the brunt of the challenges posed by plastics, Karanja expects collective action to be highlighted.
“As Africans, I think what we expect from the INC-4 is, first of all, to see joint actions across the plastics value chain because we understand that number one is not a local problem, but a global problem. The value chain spans the entire world, so we hope that players from all over the world will come together and be able to come up with a solution that will adequately address the problem of plastic use.”
To address the problem of plastic pollution, many Ottawa delegates insist the conference should limit the use of specific chemicals. Azarius Karanja shares this view: “We would like to see the elimination of problematic chemicals that go into the production of plastics. Since many of these chemicals are based on petrochemicals, they are closely related to the production of oil, so we would like to see a shift towards a greener one. “
According to the United Nations Environment Programme, global production of primary plastics is projected to reach 1,100 million tonnes by 2050 if historical growth trends continue.
