By Dylan Munashe Dzenga
From food packets, storage packaging, furniture to electronic equipment, plastics are now widely used so that imagining a world without it is impossible.
Although the use of plastics has helped save the environment through reduction of deforestation, it has also brought many problems when it comes to their disposal.
“The problem is these plastic bags and containers sustain wear and tear and they cannot decompose as well. This becomes a problem for us municipality workers to separate the garbage that decomposes from that which cannot decompose like plastic,” said one of the municipality workers, Peter Mwenje
The Harare Municipality is one of the councils experiencing difficulties in waste disposal as a result of the mix-up.
“Some households just use one trash can for all waste whether it is plastic, metal or foodstuffs and when these are disposed they become pollution to the environment,” one of Kuwadzana residents Mary Mutende
Some of the challenges posed by plastics when disposed irresponsibly are creation of unhygienic conditions, as it acts as a breeding ground for insects and mosquitoes that cause diseases like malaria and dengue which are a threat to humans.
Not only are humans affected, but animals are also threatened when plastics are not disposed of correctly.
“…we had students on a wild tour once and some of them threw litter in the game park…one of the zebras ate the plastics and had stomach and intestine related diseases which eventually led to its suffocation and death.” said Oscar Maboreke, a game ranger at one of Zimbabwe’s wildlife parks
Other residents went on to say that if these plastics are to be disposed of properly, many of these problems can be dealt with. It is not only the council that has such responsibility, it all begins in the households.
The challenge is a global issue which has caused many countries implement policies with regards to the use of plastics like resorting to recyclables and encouraging residents to upcycle plastics into new products, or replace plastic products with reusable ones.