Often viewed as scavenging pests, desperate people who rummage for goods in rubbish bins, dumps and landfill sites represent an untapped workforce that could help prevent vast amounts of plastic ending up in the ocean.
So says world renowned environmental engineer and expert on marine waste, Dr Jenna Jambeck, an associate professor in the College of Engineering at the University of Georgia in the US.
If presented with the opportunity, the poorest of the poor could play a huge role in addressing plastic pollution, says Jambeck, who grew up fascinated by the intricate make-up of things.
“I am told that I used to spend hours staring at the delicately woven tassels of a couch. I also remember mixing my mother’s perfumes and powders into all sorts of concoctions. I was a strange kid, maybe?” she laughs.
Jambeck was in Durban this week following her participation in the first African Marine Waste Conference in Port Elizabeth and a host of follow-up engagements, from Cape Town to KwaZulu-Natal.
Organised by the Sustainable Seas Trust (SST), the waste conference follows warnings that Africa may soon become as heavily contaminated as south-east Asia - the most polluted region in the world.
“The need is clear,” says SST director, Tony Ribbink. “Rapid development in Africa without an associated decrease in poverty levels has led to major pollution of coastal and marine areas. And every time we throw away a piece of plastic, we throw away cash,” says Ribbink.
Latest research puts the value of plastic lost to the sea each year at $20 billion (R1.6 billion).
“Plastic is a great product. We simply don’t handle it properly. We just discard it,” he adds.
Today, marine pollution ranks high on environmental agendas worldwide. This was not the case 12 years ago when Jambeck was studying towards a doctorate in environmental engineering - a highly specialised field that uses the principles of engineering, soil science, biology and chemistry to develop solutions to environmental problems.
“I wanted to do my PhD on plastic pollution in the ocean, but doors closed in my face,” says Jambeck. “I was told nobody cared.”
But Jambeck persisted. While completing her doctorate, she researched marine pollution on the side, writing a paper that earned widespread recognition. Her award-winning work on plastic waste has since featured in policy discussions in the UN Environment Programme, the US Congress as well as G7 and G20 summits.
Jambeck’s latest research paper, released this week, estimates that as much as 8 300 million metric tons of virgin plastics have been produced to date, 79% of it ending in landfills or the natural environment, including the ocean.
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation recently predicted that by 2050 there could be more plastic (by weight) than fish in the ocean.
So what can be done?
This question dominated discussions at Africa’s first marine waste conference last week and set in motion efforts to draft a Pan-African marine pollution strategy.
In her presentation, Jambeck talked of the need for technological innovation in designing biodegradable packaging and the need to empower millions of people worldwide to earn a living by collecting, sorting, recycling and selling materials others have thrown away.
But for such circular economy models to happen on a large scale, more recycling stations and awareness campaigns are needed, alongside a shift in thinking and attitudes toward people who work with waste.
“Instead of this general eeuw yuck response, we need to acknowledge the valuable role played by millions of people in the informal sector who work with waste every day, many of them hardly earning enough to eat,” says Jambeck, who herself fell in love on a smelly landfill site in Florida, in the US, while doing experimental research alongside a colleague, now her husband, Matt, in 2001.
After the conference, Jambeck obtained insight into innovative recycling initiatives taking place in South Africa, including the conversion of a dump site in Hermanus, the Western Cape, into a fully fledged recycling facility that has created employment for people who had previously scavenged off the dump.
Jambeck also praised the Blue Crew programme which engages women from Cato Manor, Durban, in collecting and selling recyclable materials in aid of marine conservation.
Supported by Grindrod Bank, Jonssons and South22, the Blue Crew recently took part in a Durban harbour clean-up, collecting five large bags of plastic waste which was subsequently shredded into crushed polyethylene terephthalate, (known as PET) as part of the Wildlands’ Wastepreneur programme.
Wildlands also uses poorer quality plastics like chip packets and multi-layered food sachets collected at schools to make “green” desks.
“This is the circular economy in action - turning waste into opportunities,” said Jambeck. - www.rovingreporters.co.za
* This story forms part of Roving Reporters’ Ocean Watch series supported by the Human Elephant Foundation. Dr Jenna Jambeck’s visit formed part of the US Mission’s support for South Africa as a regional leader in addressing marine debris through scientific research and capacity building.