“Plastic free July”- during this month we will be focussing on the impacts of plastic waste on the most vulnerable communities.
According to Tearfund almost a quarter of the world’s population (over 2 billion people) living in low- or middle-income countries don’t have access to solid waste management. Globally, we throw away about 300 million tonnes of plastic waste every year. That’s enough to cover almost 50,000 football pitches every day! Half of all plastic is now designed to be used only once before being thrown away.
In middle class suburbs, waste is picked up regularly but in informal settlements it piles up. The reasons for poor service delivery are many and multi- factored. Sometimes informal communities are not given “wheelie bins’ by the city but only plastic bags. These then get torn open by dogs. If skips are provided they may be too far to walk to, or children cannot reach over the edge. There are also issues of safety for municipal vehicles going into certain areas.
Due to the drop in value of plastic, less and less is being collected by wastepickers – virgin plastic in South Africa is now cheaper than recycled. A study at an Anglican Church revealed that a person would need to collect 300 bottles to earn the price of a loaf of bread.
This means the harmful impacts of all this plastic pollution are becoming more widespread and severe. But what impact does all this rubbish have on informal settlements?. Plastic pollution can lead to flooding disasters
Plastic pollution blocks waterways and can exacerbate flooding which can lead to huge disasters and loss of life. Many communities across the world experience regular, flash flooding on a devastating scale – even after just a small amount of rainfall – as the plastic dumped in rivers and drains means excess water has nowhere to go.
These horrendous events cause loss of life, and sweep away homes and businesses, and it’s often low-income communities who have little option but to live on the riverbanks or in densely populated urban areas who suffer the most. It is people in poverty who are most affected.
Plastic rubbish lying in water is a also a breeding ground for mosquitoes, flies and vermin that can transmit diseases like malaria to people in the area. Research has shown that the incidence of diarrhoeal disease is twice as high for people living among mismanaged waste.
