This archive report was first published on 4 August 2020.
On August 4, 2020, Joyce Waweru, the Country Programme Manager of Kenya PET Recycling Company (Petco), spoke to Financial Standard about the company's efforts in waste management and the challenges of banning plastic use.
Established in 2018, Petco represents the Kenyan PET industry's joint effort to self-regulate. The company has 13 registered recycling companies for PET and has contracted four of them.
According to Waweru, there has been an improvement in plastic waste collection since Petco came into place. The plastic recycling rate was 30 per cent last year, with over 300 million bottles taken into recycling. In contrast, the recycling rate was at eight per cent the year before.
Waweru attributed the improvement to the financial subsidies offered by Petco to recyclers, which are then passed on to collectors. The purchase price for every kilo of collected bottles was increased from five shillings to Sh23, which was the rate pre-Covid.
However, the Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted the supply chain, resulting in a 90 per cent reduction in demand for recycled plastic in March, April, and May. Additionally, fear of contamination has affected collectors, leading to a decrease in collection rates.
Waweru also discussed the 2017 ban on plastic bags, which she estimated has led to a 90 per cent reduction in plastic waste pollution. However, she noted that plastic materials are still widely used and difficult to ban entirely.
Regarding the ban on single-use plastics in protected areas, Waweru expressed concerns that it may be hard to enforce, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. She suggested that a practicable solution should be reached, such as deploying a framework to control waste.
Waweru emphasized that plastic is a sustainable material that is convenient to use, ranking top in the list of sustainable materials. It is able to keep the product it is transferring safe, does not break easily, and makes the cost of movement quite easy and economical.
Finally, Waweru praised the government for recognizing the importance of waste management, evident through the formulation of the Sustainable Waste Management Bill, 2019.
