If you took a walk in an average African suburb, for example Kileleshwa in Nairobi or Nansana in Kampala, one is combatted with extreme levels of plastic waste. The public dump sites are filled with majorly plastic waste speaking to an ever growing suffocation of plastic in the African environment.

Everyday, new African industries open up whose primary packaging is plastic. If you think of Cocacola or Pepsi and their plastic bottles, if you think of the polythene manufacturers, think of the food delivery companies, waste is one of the biggest threats to the next generation of Africa.

Currently, African governments lack appropriate circular economy strategies and policies to deal with this ever growing challenge of plastic use and waste. Should organizations with plastic chains be taxed a surcharge for this plastic use? This could be one of the starting points, a tax to be charged based on the tonnage of plastic contained in the value chain of an organization. Organizations that are able to prove proper recycling and reuse mechanisms could apply for exemptions from such a tax.

Ideally, African companies should be actively educating their consumers on possible ways to of reusing the waste that will result from the use of their products. What should happen to the Coca cola plastic bottle once it’s been consumed? It won’t surprise you to see a bodaboda man or a car owner disposing of plastic waste on open ground or in a trench. It’s a conversation that should frequent the spaces of the next African generation.