Mauritania Battles Plastic Waste

And now we go to Africa where a city is drowning in plastic waste. Environmental groups are working on solutions.
Nearly everyday, these women in Mauritania's capital Nouakchott look through other peoples trash in search of things made of plastic.

They are part of a local group called ' Zazou' which is what plastic bags are called here and their main aim is to help conserve Mauritania's environment.

In the 1950's, Nouakchott had a population of only 5000, today the city has more than 800,000 people. As a result of the growth, plastic bags and cans have become a problem especially because the city didn't have a garbage collection system for a long time.

According to environmentalists plastic bags can take up to 400 years to degrade. They clog water pipes and create stagnant pools of water which promote diseases like cholera and malaria.




When eaten by animals plastic bags kill because the material can't be digested.

Zazou works in collaboration with Pizzorno - a French company that now collects the city's garbage. Pizzorno has been operational for two years and has rid the city of 15 tonnes of plastic bags but it's the only company here and the city is quite big.

When Zazous members collect the plastic, they bring it back to their workshop to prepare it for recycling.

But first it must be cut into pieces which can be dangerous as the women sometimes cut their fingers or get injured by flying bits of plastic.

The plastics are then sold to the centre for technical treatment. A kilo goes for about 20 US cents.

Here the plastic is ground, cleaned and dried out in the sun.

But even though plastic can be recycled, Mauritania's ministry of Environment wants to introduce laws especially against the use of plastic bags.

Meanwhile Zazou wants more people to take up their campaign and their slogan: 'Nouakchott without plastic bags'. They used music and plays to educate people on the dangers of plastic at this recent awareness event.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• NTD
• Garbage
• Africa
• Plastic Waste
• Environment
• Nouakchott
• Zazou
• Disease
• Cholera
• Malaria
• Pizzorno