Browsing: WASTE

A new report has found that toxic chemicals in plastic waste exports from wealthy countries are contaminating food in developing and transition countries around the world, including Africa.

The study by the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN) found that most of the plastic waste exported from wealthy countries to countries with developing economies or economies in transition is landfilled, burned, or dumped into waterways.

According to the report, all plastics virtually contain hazardous chemical additives.

The report states that these disposal methods result in highly toxic emissions that remain in the environment for decades and build up in the food chain.

Dubbed ‘Plastic Waste Poisoning Food and Threatening Communities in Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, and Latin America’, the study demonstrates how these plastic waste handling methods end up poisoning local populations.

For this study, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in fourteen countries which in many cases receive plastic waste from …

Waste is wealth, at least for a handful of youth who know how to transform garbage into decent money-churning activities.  At present Tanzania is growing fast; its cities (such as Dar es Salaam) are recognized by the United Nations and Africa’s biggest lender—the World Bank—as the fastest-growing cities in the region.  This means more economic activities expansion, more waste generated hence, the potential for waste recycling business.   

That is why Arena Recycling—an environmental-related startup, based in Dar es Salaam (a waste generation hotbed)—is rewriting waste management in Tanzania. 

The start-up is one of the few initiatives that work along the waste recycling line. Their efforts—which are executed with utmost ingenuity, tend to offer the best environmental solutions that youth can offer, as the world, and Dar es Salaam being no exception, is faced with unprecedented environmental perils. 

Waste landscape in Tanzania 

The Division of Sustainable Development—…