A heap of plastic bags disposed behind go-downs in Industrial area.[FILE/Standard]
Geneva plastic treaty failure calls for innovation
Opinion
By
Lynet Otieno
| Aug 23, 2025
A few days ago, as I approached our bin area to throw waste, I noticed a man had been allowed in by a sympathetic guard, and he was picking plastics.
As soon as my bag of waste landed on the floor, the man grabbed it, and even before I could turn, he had dipped his hands in, careful not to dirty the surface, or himself. It was interesting to see how much he had gathered from our residence alone.
It got me thinking that I could be engaging with a lot of plastic; from toothpicks to food containers, clothes, seats, utensils, you name it.
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A lot of them, like soda bottles, plastic spoons, cooking oil containers, and single-use tumblers, end up in dumpsites, from where they can either be picked for recycling, or swept into rivers.
Yet households are not the only source of plastic pollution. There is no precise figure showing what percentage household plastic contributes in the overall plastic pollution, but consumer generated plastic waste is a matter of concern globally, though for some nations, it is something they can shrug about.
This August, representatives of at least 180 governments meeting in Geneva failed to come up with a plastics treaty.
They could not agree on whether the world should make less plastic or just deal with the waste that comes from it.
Many countries wanted the legally binding treaty, but the few and yet stronger nations, some whose economies are heavily reliant on fossil fuels, rejected efforts to have any such global limits and instead sought consensus. It was political, a divide between the willing majority and the unwilling but powerful few.
This has usually been the case with the climate and other critical conversations, where the many most vulnerable poor have to contend with the conditions suitable for the few rich and powerful. Plastics won’t stop. Today, several items that would come in wooden or clay form are plastic. Even pencils, or fences.
Meanwhile, the UNEP says an estimate 19 million to 23 million tonnes of these plastics end up in rivers and lakes every year.
In 2024 alone, more than 400 million tonnes of plastic waste was produced globally, it says, causing an economic and environmental burden that may overstretch the weakest of systems.
Several African countries, Kenya included, have banned single-use plastics. Enforcement must be heightened because underground manufacturers and vendors’ businesses are still booming.
Blame it on lack of alternatives after the bans. Kenya’s operationalisation of the 2024 Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulations that force producers to finance and meet recovery targets for the packaging they place on the market may be another way to go about it. Back to the waste pickers, it is important that they are paid a dignified price for the work. Online data shows over 40 million people worldwide depend on informal recycling.
The answer to the plastic pollution does not only lie in the decision making halls abroad, but also back home, where there is no excuse for not legally controlling what enters our markets from outside the borders. Again, enforcement is key.
Producers, just as polluters, must be made to pay. Proper auditing, evaluation has to be done, and corruption given zero room.
This can be a template for other nations to help deal with plastic waste.
The failure at Geneva is regrettable, but not a reason to give up on the efforts to end plastic pollution. It is an insight to reflect and establish how best Africa can minimise the negative effects of plastic on our health, land, water and all that live in them.
The writer is a Contributing Editor at Mongabay. lynnno16@gmail.com
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