Trash talk fixated on plastic bags
Africa ignores greater need for modern rubbish disposal, writes Adam Minter
In Africa, the plastic shopping bag is an endangered species. Last week, tiny Benin became the latest African country to restrict the import, production and even use of such bags. It's not messing around, either. Following in the steps of Rwanda (where plastic bag importers are publicly shamed) and Kenya (where bags users can be jailed for four years), Benin plans to fine bag importers as much as $87 000 (about R1.24-million). That may well reduce the supply of plastic bags. But it ignores the larger problem. Plastic bags are just the most tangible symptom of Africa's inability to collect and dispose of its surging volumes of garbage. It's a looming crisis that worsens every major environmental challenge facing the continent, including climate change, habitat destruction and a lack of clean water. Solving it will require much more than a crackdown on bags. By weight and volume, plastic bags make up a very small percentage of the world's waste. But in Africa, their visual impact is o...
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