EAC Report on Single-Use Plastics
In 2022, Sustainable Inclusive Business, The Flipflopi Project, and ALN Kenya launched a report uncovering the need to adopt streamlined legislation to manage plastic pollution throughout the East African Community (EAC). The report is dubbed; ‘East Africans: Let’s Unite for Change’. The goal of the report is to promote a better understanding of existing Single-Use Plastics (SUPs) regulations and lay the groundwork for the adoption of streamlined legislation and collaborative action within the EAC to regulate plastics production, support waste management, and eliminate unnecessary SUPs at a regional level. The report outlines the current state of affairs of the policies, regulations, and laws that address the harmful effects of SUPs in East Africa. The report highlights the EAC’s existing efforts to combat plastic pollution and was timely in its release as it came before the fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA 5.2). The assembly in Nairobi from February 28th to March 3rd, 2022 provided a unique opportunity for governments to commit to establishing a UN global treaty on plastic pollution that the world has been calling for.
Project Objectives
The report aims to promote a better understanding of existing Single-Use Plastics (SUPs) regulations and lay the groundwork for the adoption of streamlined legislation and collaborative action within the EAC to regulate plastics production, support waste management, and eliminate unnecessary SUPs at a regional level.
Target Groups & Impact
Target Group(s): East African businesses, the EAC Legislative Assembly, potential sustainable project investors to East Africa, the EAC governments, government agencies, civil society, and EAC citizens.
Impact:
- Published an industry report outlining the current state of the policies, regulations, and laws addressing the harmful effects of Single-Use Plastics in East Africa.
- Strengthened collaboration with key partners in the regulatory and sustainability spaces, including the Kenyan government and the EAC Legislative Assembly.
- Promoted a better understanding of existing Single-Use Plastics (SUPs) regulations and laid the groundwork for adopting streamlined legislation and collaborative action within the EAC to regulate plastics production, support waste management, and eliminate unnecessary SUPs at a regional level.
- Championed the legislative agenda at an EAC level by drafting and introducing a legislative framework to ban the use and manufacture of specific single-use plastics in the EAC, which was presented to the EAC Legislative Assembly for consideration.
- Increased awareness of the circular economy and single-use plastic regulations through widespread media publications about the report and its highlighted impact on the East African region.
Project Partners
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