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The four-day session of the Joint Committee of the ECOWAS Parliament ended in Winneba last Saturday with a call on member states to take urgent steps to change people’s attitudes towards the use and management of plastic waste in the region.
The committee said the first step in combating environmental pollution by plastic waste, apart from recycling, was to raise people’s awareness of their danger to the environment, food security and human health.
“A change in mentality is a sine qua non for success. To this end, robust awareness campaigns need to be carried out among the citizens of the community to ensure that policies relating to plastic waste are successfully implemented,” the committee said.
In a draft report presented by the Co-rapporteur of the Joint Committee, Bademba Balde, the committee said in West Africa, the economic impact of plastic marine pollution on the environment was estimated at between $10,000 and $33,000 per tonne of plastic waste.
“So, the prevention solution provided for in the Community Regulation (Article 15 of the regulation) must not only be effectively applied but also act at source to raise people’s initial awareness.
“We, therefore, call on member states to define a policy to raise awareness among populations on the dangers of plastic waste,” it said. The legislators from the committees on Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources, Energy and Mines, as well as Infrastructure, made the call at the close of a delocalised meeting held in Winneba from July 29 to August 3, 2024.
The meeting, which was held under the chairmanship of the Third Deputy Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, was used to inform the participants about the strategies and mechanisms developed for an environmentally sound management of plastic waste within the bloc.
On effective application of Community Regulation C/REG.17/12/23, the members said that although the regulation provided for the creation of a competent national authority to give prior authorisation for the manufacture, import, export, use, distribution or marketing of biodegradable plastic objects or packaging, among others, there should be greater monitoring and evaluation by community bodies.
It said since one of the end-use sectors was trade, the standard on the use of low density, single-use or disposable products and packaging with a thickness of less than 60 microns must be complied with.
“We recommended a ban on single-use containers, crockery, cutlery and other plastic products if they are not biodegradable,” it added.
On involvement of parliamentarians in the negotiations on plastic waste, the committee said that the representation mandate granted to the legislators required that they adopted the legal instruments needed to better the lives of populations whose aspirations they represented.
In a bid to help tackle plastic pollution, the committee invited member states to adopt provisions aimed at the effective implementation of Regulation C/REG.17/12/23 on the harmonisation of the regulation of plastic products and the environmentally sound management of plastic waste in their respective countries.
It encouraged states to build the capacities of the populations and civil society organisations in the fight against plastic waste. “The committee further invites the ECOWAS Commission to contribute to building the capacities of national institutions or agencies responsible for environmental protection.
“Develop mechanisms for regular monitoring of the implementation of policies relating to the fight against plastic waste within the Community,” it said.
