Tackling plastic pollution in Africa
Tackling plastic pollution – at sea, in waterways, as litter in the environment – is of course a global challenge. For a developing world country like Ghana, even doing all it can to reduce single-use fossil fuel plastic packaging will not eliminate the problem washing up at each high tide.
Robyn and Neil from Kelpi spent last week in Ghana exploring how our seaweed-derived bio-materials can play a vital role in reducing single-use fossil-fuel plastics. We’ve been working closely with UK-Ghana fresh fruit company Blue Skies, which supplies fresh cut fruit to multiple UK and European supermarkets. They’re the lead organisation in the FRESHPPACT consortium also comprising Waitrose, project managers from the University of Northampton’s Centre for Sustainable Business, and other partners looking for innovative solutions to mitigate waste and pollution from fossil fuel plastics in workwear, agricultural mulch, and in packaging for cut fruit sold in UK and other supermarkets around the world.
Funded by UK Aid through the Sustainable Manufacturing and Environmental Pollution (SMEP) programme, Kelpi won a position on Stage 1 of the FRESHPPACT initiative. This gave us the opportunity to visit production facilities in Ghana and see first-hand the nature of the challenge. FRESHPPACT (the ‘fresh produce impact hub’) sets out to support R&D into the shared environmental challenges facing the fresh produce industry in developing and emerging economies.
Kelpi is already working towards Stage 2 of the project, which will last up to three years. Of course, delivering the step change in innovation which Kelpi is proposing will not happen immediately. It’s not a panacea for all plastic pollution in Ghana, but by starting with packaging for fresh cut fruit exported to the UK, we can provide effective alternatives to fossil fuel plastics in Europe and Africa.
Today, up to 80% of a Ghanaian fisherman’s catch is made up of fossil fuel plastic (Watch Africa figures). In a country where 8.2 billion single-use water sachets are used every year (UNEP figures) the challenges are stark. Together Kelpi and Freshppact partners like Blue Skies and Waitrose are exploring how bio-materials can address those deep challenges and start to turn the tide on plastic waste.