Circular economy proposed to preserve natural resources
Dow spokesperson says collaboration is key to solving the issue of plastic waste.
CAPE TOWN, October 19 (ANA) – A circular economy is the answer to preserving and making the most of our natural resources, says sustainability and advocacy manager Adwoa Coleman.
Coleman is a sustainability and advocacy manager for Dow Packaging and Specialty Plastics (P&SP) Business in Africa and the country manager for Ghana.
She drives growth through enhancing relationships with customers, trade associations and industry groups across the region and implementing sustainability projects through partnerships to end plastic waste in the environment.
P&SP is a business unit of The Dow Chemical Company, which develops packaging and plastic solutions for various market needs, including food packaging to enhance food safety, freshness, convenience, shelf appeal and sustainability, and industrial packaging to provide durability and stability during transportation.
“Enabling a circular economy demands that we move away from the current economy, which is considered linear.
“For Dow, sustainability for plastics means three things: that it does not end up in the environment, that it advances a circular economy and that it enables partnerships to create impact,” said Coleman.
To help this, Coleman said that Dow has initiated several innovative projects.
One such initiative is that Dow uses alternative bio-feedstock derived from a waste residue from paper production as raw material for the production of bioplastics.
These waste products come from sustainably managed forests, extracted as a residue when separating wood fibre for pulp production.
According to Coleman, this approach enables a lower carbon footprint of up to three times when compared to standard fossil-derived polyethylene resins and utilising a by-product which was otherwise considered waste as new raw material.
Coleman said the important role of waste reclaimers across Africa should be also recognised, protected and supported.
“Waste reclaimers or collectors are the backbone of a circular economy in Africa and many other developing regions,” said Coleman.
Waste reclaimers make a living from gathering and selling materials such as plastic, metal and paper.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, they now have few resources as the money from their activities is only enough for day-to-day living.
Dow partnered with the GlobalGiving organisation on a fund dedicated to assisting waste collectors not only with their interim challenges but also in establishing long-term interventions to enhance their work as they assist us in preserving our planet.
The fund is still active, and anyone interested in helping can donate by searching for waste collectors on the GlobalGiving website www.globalgiving.org.
In addition, Dow has also been part of other initiatives across Africa in countries such as Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, South Africa and Nigeria.
Coleman said these initiatives work in tandem with the government and civic society to enable success.
Across Africa, Dow also sits on the Africa Plastics Recycling Alliance, which is the umbrella body to enable cross leveraging of plastic sustainability efforts across the region.
Globally, Dow is a founding member of the Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW), an initiative to accelerate efforts to drive innovation, provide much-needed resources and take decisive action to put an end to plastic waste in the environment.
The AEPW has committed to investing US$1.5 billion over the next five years to develop, deploy and bring to scale solutions that will minimise and manage plastic waste and promote post-use solutions.
“Collaboration is key to solving the issue of plastic waste and no one actor in the value chain can solve it by themselves,” said Coleman.
– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher