Reference News network reported on June 16 Western media said that plastic seems to have invaded human life. There are few cracks in the earth that are safe from the material. People in Africa are also beginning to be affected by this waste that pollutes the land and sea.

According to a report on the website of Spanish newspaper La Public on June 13, in Njumbe, a small town in southern Tanzania, colored plastic began to mix with the red grains of sand in its streets. In some cases, the plastic waste is collected and incinerated, with no alternative but fire. Other times, the plastic becomes one with nature and is forgotten among the grass and trees.

"Although the amount of waste produced here is not as high as in Europe, consumption habits are changing as the population continues to grow." A local NGO, SHIPO, says plastic is becoming an increasingly common part of Tanzanian society's daily habits.

The report said that while the use of plastic products is increasing, it is necessary to improve the quality of a developing society, and there are currently major gaps in waste treatment. Europe's recycling systems do not yet support recycling of plastic waste, and the situation is even worse in Africa.

On a China-wide basis, Tanzania's plastic imports have increased 400% since 2000, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity.

What can be done about the problem of plastic accumulation? That's the question environmental engineer Diez has been trying to solve as she works with other volunteers to create a tool to reverse plastic pollution in Njumbe, an African town of about 40,000 residents.

This is how a project called Beyond Njumbe was born, under the slogan "Second Life for Plastics to meet local needs". The scheme, if successful, could be rolled out to other parts of sub-Saharan Africa. SHIPO knows that the only way to stop plastic pollution is to stop its manufacture. However, the waste that has already accumulated must somehow be disposed of, making a circular economy a viable alternative for Tanzanian towns like Njumbe.

"The core idea is that waste can serve the people here." "Diez said. To turn plastic waste into a plastic handle for a hoe or a chair, a model has to be used based on a program called Precious Plastics, which processes used plastic into entirely new materials.

The project in Tanzania seeks to set up small workshops and use tools that are not hard to find there. A shredder, an injector and some molds can be used to "turn waste into treasure."

Volunteers in the project will first gather workers who are engaged in garbage collection and incineration, and teach them to replace incineration with recycling. Other interested locals can then join small workshops and learn how to recycle their waste, showing them that recycling can also be put to good use in areas such as agriculture. (Compilation/Han Chao)

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