Vivo Energy has embarked on a plastics collection initiative aimed at sensitising Ugandans about environmental conservation.
Dubbed ‘Taasa Obutonde,’ a Luganda phrase to mean protecting the environment, the campaign, in its first year, purposes to address the negative impact of plastics and the effects of its poor disposal on the environment, animal and human life.
Speaking at the launch of the event, the State Minister for Environment Beatrice Anywar said the government is strengthening the law to ban selected plastics.
“When we talk about the environment, you don’t need to be told to protect where you should live healthily. If we want to break the chain of plastic waste and its effects, let us disconnect from its demand,” Anywar said.
Plastics are a menace in society if not properly disposed off, which is the basis of the campaign. It is an environmental awareness campaign stretching over the next three years that will not only see motorists refuel at Shell fuel stations but also dispose off plastic wastes that will be collected for recycling.
“The campaign aims to impact public behaviour to bring change in the way we manage plastic waste. It is aimed at promoting, reusing, reducing and recycling of plastic waste. It is going places and will bring value in environmental conservation of Uganda. We have committed to designate part of our network of service stations as centralised public collection points for plastics because we want to reduce on the amount of plastic waste in communities where our stations are located,” said Gilbert Assi, the managing director of Vivo Energy.
Mr Arthur Akankwasa, the executive director of National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA), observed that plastic pollution is a big crisis not only in Uganda but globally.
“Plastics especially polyethylene bags have a lifespan of a minute to an hour of using but it takes approximately 400 years to get it out of the environment. When biodegraded, polyethylene bags are made of chemicals such as methane and carbondioxide gases which end up in water streams through soil leaching. We end up eating the same chemicals in fish and this is how some cancers are caused,” Akankwasa noted.
Plastic collection points started at 12 selected Shell fuel stations in Kampala but will later roll out to other stations around the country.
Partners, including the Plastics Recycling Industries, a subsidiary of Century Bottling Company that runs a plastics recycling plant, shall be expected to launch similar initiatives.