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By JEREMIAH WAKAYA, NAIROBI, Kenya, November 27 – Kisumu Governor Anyang 'Nyong'o has proposed extending the ban on single-use plastic bottles to limit the influx of plastic waste into water bodies.
At a conference on climate change on the sidelines of the Conference on the Blue Sustainable Economy, Mr Nyong said that the ban on the use of plastic in its entirety guarantee the protection of the environment against the harmful effects of non-degradable pollutants.
He added that the ban would also create an opportunity for industries producing transport bags and degradable containers.
"We can ban the use of plastic bags and bottles and give another sector the opportunity to fill the void created," said Nyong'o.
He identified the manufacture of biodegradable bags as a viable alternative whose adoption would not only make the world's cities cleaner, but also create employment opportunities and develop economies.
"There is an Indian technology that allows you to use plant waste to make biodegradable bags. This will not only create jobs, but will also encourage the recycling of plant waste, "said Kisumu County Chief at the session on climate change, which was also attended by the President of the Global Fund, Pavan Sukhdev, the president of the United Nations Conference on the Ocean, Vorege Bainimaram. President Angus Friday.
Kenya banned the use of disposable plastics last August after the expiration of a six month notice period in February 2017.
The use of plastic bags and containers has become a major existential threat to the fishing industry. The latest estimates from the United Nations Environment Program show that more than eight million tons of plastic are discarded each year in the ocean.
Projections also indicate that the amount of microplastics – nylon, polystyrene and polyethylene – will be released annually into the ocean at 230,000 metric tons, an average of 13,000 pieces of plastic per square kilometer of ocean, which constitutes an additional danger for the fish.
The amount of plastic waste in the ocean is expected to increase tenfold by 2020, exceeding the number of fish by 2050.
Plastic microparticles can be absorbed into the flesh of fish, making seafood unfit for human consumption.
Plastic microparticles are particularly harmful because some of them may contain heavy metals.
In July 2017, leading scientists in France and Malaysia projected to 11,000 consumers of seafood products per year in seafood products in Europe.
In the report published in Scientific Reports, a scientific journal of an international scientific publisher, Nature Research, scientists have listed 36 microplastics in 120 fish samples.
Although Kenya has joined other countries in the sea cleansing campaign in previous years, the country has not yet set a goal for the realization of a coastline without pollution.
At the forefront of global efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 14 on the sustainable management and protection of marine and coastal ecosystems from pollution, Sri Lanka declared in January its ambitious goal to to reach a pollution – free coastline by 2030.
The Asian country has stepped up waste recycling as part of a bold action plan to reverse the course of plastics.
According to the United Nations, more than three billion people depend on marine and coastal resources to live.
In addition to plastic pollution, this vital resource faces other hazards, including the over-exploitation of at least 30% of the world's fish stocks.
The global agency has also reported a 26% increase in ocean acidification since the industrial revolution.
According to the United Nations, the ocean also absorbs about thirty percent of the carbon dioxide produced by humans.
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