At conference in Yaounde: Organisation raises awareness on dangers of plastic pollution.

It was organised under the theme: “Better understanding the problem of plastic pollution in order to act intelligently in information and awareness rising: The role of the media”.

According to the coordinator of CREPD, Dr Gilbert Kuepouo, the objective of the conference was to raise awareness and engage the media as well as CSOs in the fight against plastic pollution in the country. 

It was also intended to let the stakeholders be in the know of the various initiatives taken at national and international levels to deal with it.

According to the organiser, the choice of media practitioners and CSOs for capacity building is best explained the fact they have the opportunity to reach to a wider audience and wide range of the population.

Dr Gilbert Kuepouo in his presentation regretted that event though plastics are more and more being used in the country; its lifespan in the environment is measured in hundreds of years. 

“…plastic pollution is not only physical; it is also invisible, that is in its chemical form. Plastic bottles, for example, take up to 450 years to decompose in landfills. But even when it breaks down, plastic actually becomes more resilient in terms of dissemination, breaking down into microplastics and nanoplastics that are transported around the world by air and sea, permeating our ecosystems and food supplies,” Dr Kuepouo stated.

He further detailed that: “We eat plastic, we breathe plastic and microplastics have even been detected in placentas and human blood. We particularly raised the issue on the chemical that is contained in plastic which is an aspect of invisible plastic pollution that needs to be highlighted in the communication plan of media practitioner daily on issues concerning plastic usage and disposal”.

According to Dr Kuepouo, a study carried out in a 2018 by Groh et al revealed that of 3,377 chemical products, 906 are potentially linked to plastic packaging and some 148 hazardous chemicals are used in the manufacturing of plastics to give it a certain physical characteristics like flexibility, transparency, flame retardants, colour. 

He said chemicals easily migrate from plastics to food and beverages, since they serve as packaging or containers, exposing consumers during the use phase of the plastic life cycle. 

Once they become waste, these plastics continue to release the chemicals inside them into the environment, landfills, or while they are being burned in the open air. 

These chemicals, according to the same study, are associated with infertility, cancers, and other chronic diseases which have been on the rise in today’s society. 

National, int’l responses to plastic pollution

According to Dr Gilbert Kuepouo several national response strategies have been put in place by government to fight plastic pollution. He cited among others, the national legislative and regulatory measures on waste management in Cameroon.

Dr Kuepouo added that despite the existence of these regulatory measures, instruments on the life cycle of plastic to guarantee its sound management once it has become waste, are still lacking. 

At the international level, he said government is signatory to two major conventions signed in 2019 and 2022 to end plastic pollution. 

He mentioned the amendment of the Basel Convention on Plastic Waste in 2019 and the Resolution of the 2022 United Nations Environment Assembly to launch negotiations for an international legally binding treaty to end plastic pollution, including in marine environments.

According to the CREPD Coordinator, there is need for a legal binding international treaty to tackle plastic pollution in the country. This treaty envisions actions to be taken at all stages of the plastic lifecycle to end plastic pollution by 2040, including reducing plastic production. 

About CREPD

The Centre for Research and Education for Development is an organisation that supervises the work of about 40 NGOs in French-speaking Africa, which are members of the International Pollutants Elimination Network, IPEN on the sound management of chemicals and waste.

It is equally a member of the Partnership on Plastic Waste, PWP under the Basel Convention; accredited to the work of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions and a strong partner of the Ministry of the Environment, Protection of Environment and Sustainable Development.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue N0:3155 of Monday July 01, 2024