Stop Waste Colonialism

The Campaign

We have seen the effects of waste colonialism in the African continent. Where our natural resources have been depleted, to fuel corporate greed. Where our resources are returned to us, in the form of waste and cheap products made from toxic recycled materials. Where plastic waste has infiltrated its way into our land, oceans and physical bodies, severing our cultural connections with the earth and violating our rights to a clean and healthy environment.

As Global South countries start closing down their borders to this unjust practice of waste dumping, we need to proactively guard against this happening in other parts of the world. The Global North cannot continue to export its waste problem onto the Global South, all countries need to take responsibility for how they produce and manage their waste.

Our Demands

1. Prevent plastic waste from being dumped into the region;
2. Protect existing and new legislation that upholds our right to a safe, clean and healthy environment that is toxic-free;
3. Exercise their right to refuse shipments through Prior Informed Consent (PIC), especially for hazardous and environmentally unsound plastic waste;
4. Stringently enforce existing legislations like the Basel and Bamako conventions, which restrict and at times prohibit waste imports, and undertake swift return-to-sender actions on illegal shipments;
5. Adopt national systems that allow waste pickers to be part of all decision making processes in waste management;
6. Invest in the ongoing discussions around a global plastic treaty, to ensure that it reflects the local plastic pollution realities within the region and that attempts are made to address the problems of plastic across its entire value chain, especially through a strict cap on the production of new plastic.