NAIROBI, March 8 (Xinhua) -- Several Kenyan manufacturing entities on Friday announced a partnership with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF Kenya) to reenergize plastic cycling efforts and unleash green jobs.
The new partnership between WWF Kenya and industries is domiciled within the Kenya Plastics Pact, a voluntary initiative that seeks to create a sustainable circular economy, and halt the degradation of habitats.
Karin Boomsma, project director at the Kenya Plastics Pact Secretariat, said that plastic pollution remains a huge ecological threat in the country, necessitating partnerships to boost recycling and reuse.
According to Boomsma, stakeholders across the plastic value chain have rallied behind partnerships that address technical, financial and infrastructural barriers to the growth of the circular economy.
She disclosed that a collaboration between WWF Kenya and industries will ensure that compounds that complicate recycling are removed from packaging materials like bottles and jars.
Boomsma added that robust consumer awareness campaigns will be part of the collaborative venture to fight plastic pollution, which is choking marine and terrestrial ecosystems in the country and escalating a public health crisis.
The Kenya Plastics Pact Roadmap aims to ensure that 100 percent of plastic packaging in the country is reusable and recyclable by 2030, though currently, plastic recycling rates stand at 10 percent.
According to the Sustainable Waste Management Act of 2022, plastic producers are required to build their capacity to fully comply with the mandatory extended producer responsibility (EPR), a policy tool that encourages manufacturers to reduce their waste footprint.
Alex Kubasu, program manager of the Circular Economy Initiative at WWF Kenya, said that a partnership between industry and not-for-profit groups is key to addressing health and environmental challenges linked to plastic waste.
"This collaborative effort marks a pivotal moment in the fight against plastic pollution. It aligns with national and global initiatives promoting the principles of circularity in plastic packaging," Kubasu said. ■
