Biodegradable Bags and Recycling of Plastic Waste in Burkina

Officials of the Association of Importers and Manufacturers of Biodegradable and Plastic Waste Recycling Bags hosted a press conference this Tuesday, May 21st, 2024 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, to denounce a note from the Ministry in charge of the environment and calling for a “stop” import, production and marketing activities for biodegradable bags. These professionals regret a lack of consultation around the subject, even though they have “innovative proposals” to make for the benefit of all.

It is with great mobilization of its members that the Association of Importers and Manufacturers of Biodegradable Bags and Recycling of Plastic Waste made this outing both to denounce the note relating to the “stopping” of the activities of importation, production and marketing of the biodegradable sachet (from the Ministry of the Environment, Water and Sanitation) and to reopen consultations around this concern.

According to the association, the biodegradable sachet can certainly pollute the environment, but we must not lose sight of its multiple benefits for populations

“As a reminder, a meeting was organized by the environment department in July 2019 with importers of biodegradable bags. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss the problem of environmental degradation due to bags, and it was a question of suspending the importation, production and marketing of biodegradable plastic bags or of proposing innovations. At the end of this meeting, the members of our structure worked together to propose innovation solutions that could lead to a win-win partnership.”

“Several steps were taken by the association with the ministry in order to find common ground. During our last workshop, precisely on March 14th, 2024, the secretary general of the ministry told us that he had to carry out missions in Bobo and Koudougou and that on his return, he would come back to us so that we could discuss the issue. None of this was done and to our great surprise, he did not come back to us on this point and a note was signed so that we put an end to our activities,” said the secretary general of the association, Seydou Zongo, through the opening statement.

According to the association, the biodegradable sachet can certainly pollute the environment, but we must not lose sight of its multiple benefits for populations. It has contributed, say the speakers, and still contributes to protecting populations from covid-19 and against any other illness that may be linked to the dust and winds of the harmattan.

It facilitates, they continued, the packaging of many “things in the daily life” of populations. “Let’s imagine all of Burkina without plastic bags currently; how would they manage? Some people talk about aluminum foil, but can it contain all kinds of objects or is it accessible to everyone? We don’t think so,” they argue before adding that the biodegradable sachet also helps reduce the unemployment rate in Burkina.

“Let us think of the families of the thousands of people who earn their living through the activity linked to the importation and recycling of biodegradable plastic bags. We can therefore conclude that in view of the climate and the socio-economic, security and even health situation that our nation is going through, the sachet plays a preponderant role in the lives of our populations and that it is appropriate to find suitable solutions to good cooperation.

“That is why we, members of the Association of Importers of Biodegradable Plastic Bags and Recyclers of Plastic Waste in Burkina Faso, believe that our structure has not been informed of the decision and come through this press conference to request the cancellation of this suspension note and propose a discussion meeting in order to find suitable solutions,” they pleaded, stressing that they have innovative proposals to make in this area for the good of all.

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(Featured image by kalhh via Pixabay)

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First published in lefaso.net. A third-party contributor translated and adapted the article from the original. In case of discrepancy, the original will prevail.

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