Nairobi, 2 September 2020 – Following the release of the New York Times article and Greenpeace Africa’s Media Release revealing that lobbyists from the American Chemistry Council wants to use the US-Kenya trade deal to expand plastic in Africa, Kenya’s Trade Cabinet Secretary, Betty Maina has stated that Kenya will not accept any proposal that go against the country’s environmental laws in the trade negotiations with the United States of America.
Responding to these developments, Greenpeace Africa’s Senior Political Advisor, Fredrick Njehu has said:
“The plastics industry continues to play both sides, touting flashy initiatives like the Alliance to End Plastic Waste publicly, but working behind the scenes to use low and middle income countries as their dumping sites. CS Betty Maina must live up to that commitment.
“In just 1 day, nearly 4,000 people have expressed concern about these development. The Cabinet secretary should consider this public outcry, if and when the Kenyan government is faced with the stringent trade negotiation terms.
“The African continent has become a world leader in phasing out plastic bags. Lobbying by the ACC threatens the progress made by Kenya and other countries across Africa on plastic pollution. Increased plastic pollution will not only hurt our environment, but also vulnerable communities already disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The proponents of single-use plastics continue to make an argument for recycling as a solution to curb the pollution crisis. This is unsustainable as only around 9% of plastic waste actually gets recycled, while the rest is burned, landfilled, or polluting our environment. Greenpeace Africa urges the Ministry of Trade to say no to this deal.”
Notes to the Editor:
- Petition to Ministry of Trade can be found here: https://act.gp/2OJrolR
Contacts for Interviews and More Information:Hellen Dena, Communication Officer, +254 717 104 144, [email protected]
Discussion
We should all be made accountable for our rubbish!
Totally agree with you. Plastic problem concerns all of us and we should implement green alternative methods to fight the use of single-use plastic.
We concur Patricia. This mess we should all clean up and switch to green environmental safe alternatives.
Our environment must remain clean
Plastic free Africa.
Keeping our environment clean is a collective effort from each and one of us.
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Stop any attempt to dump plastics in Kenya. Plastic materials are a threat to human life's and the lives of our animals and plants on water and land. We deserve a clean environment.
Single-use plastic is a world pandemic and should be banned at all cost.
We must say noooo to plastic
And no we say. Africa is not a dumpster.