Japan and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (Unido) recently signed an agreement at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Pretoria to cooperate in countering plastic pollution in South Africa. The CSIR will work jointly with Unido to implement the agreement. “The project is funded by the government of Japan,” pointed out Unido representative in Southern Africa Khaled El Mekwad in his address at the event. “Unido attaches great importance to this project.” The move from single-use plastics could not be avoided.

He also highlighted that the CSIR was a long-standing strategic partner of his organisation. The project opened the way to public–private partnerships in South Africa, a model that could also be adopted by other countries in Southern Africa and, indeed, beyond – he reported that the Unido office in Pakistan had already expressed interest in it.

The joint research programme will look at both plastic waste and alternative materials to conventional plastics. The programme will run for three years, paid for by a Japanese grant of $1.8-million. “This project has been mentioned between the two [countries’] leaders,” highlighted Japanese ambassador Norio Maruyama at the signing event. Japan had agreed to provide the funding after a bilateral meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa prior to the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, in June.

Also, at the G20 summit, Abe announced that Japan would support the waste management efforts of developing countries, including capacity building and infrastructure development. The ambassador described the signing of the agreement in Pretoria as a “concrete achievement” of that policy.

“We are very proud to support South Africa [in introducing] alternative materials to plastic, and it’s through Japanese technology,” he affirmed. This new technology was cutting-edge, and produced biodegradable plastics. The agreement would also strengthen South Africa’s capacity for plastic recycling.

“Innovation can be the solution of a lot of issues, particularly the environment,” affirmed Maruyama. “With this project [involving] Japanese technology, we can show how innovation can be a solution.”

Japan has announced a particular focus on the problem of plastic litter in the sea. It has developed a programme called the MARINE Initiative, MARINE being an acronym for the four elements of the programme – the management of waste, the recovery of marine litter, innovation, and empowerment.

Japan would also assist developing countries in participating in this initiative. This would be done through international cooperation (including official development assistance); international operations by Japanese companies, local governments and nongovernmental organisations; and the dissemination and sharing of best practices.

In her address at the function, CSIR executive: business excellence and innovation Khungeka Njobe highlighted that the CSIR had a strong focus on sustainable development. She noted that solid waste had environmental, social and economic impacts. Plastic waste was seen as a growing problem in Africa, because of the employment of single-use plastics and poor recycling.

But waste was actually a resource, she affirmed. “Clearly, we’re treating waste in a way that loses value for us.” Phasing out single-use plastics, [introducing] improved waste processing and better recycling were needed.

“We have also invested in developing biodegradable plastics,” she stressed. The CSIR had already developed bioplastics, as an alternative to conventional, petroleum-based plastics. “The CSIR is looking forward to partnering with government and industry to address this issue of plastics.”

“For many decades, plastics have been hailed as the miracle material – the material of the future,” observed industry association Plastics SA executive director Anton Hanekom in his address. “But, in recent years, they have become public enemy number one.” Plastics had made the modern world, he stated. But they had to be properly disposed of. The South African industry supported initiatives to reduce plastic waste.

Currently, 46.2% of plastic waste in South Africa was collected for recycling. This was done by some 50 000 informal recyclers, known colloquially as ‘waste-pickers’, at landfill sites. But this activity did not clean up the wider environment. Proper recycling infrastructure had to be developed.

The industry wanted future policy on plastics to be based on evidence, he affirmed. Investment in future alternative production lines also had to be evidence based. “The research that will be done through this initiative will provide the evidence,” he asserted. “We should declare war on pollution, not on plastics.”