Every year the world produces approximately 400 million tons of plastic waste, much of which is thrown away after just a few minutes of use.
Negotiators hope to reach the world’s first treaty on plastic pollution this year, but in five very different countries, AFP finds that single-use plastic remains hugely popular as a cheap and easy choice, illustrating the challenges ahead:
Bangkok
On a Bangkok street lined with food vendors, customers line up for Maliwan’s famous traditional sweets.
Steamed layer cakes – green with pandan leaf or blue with butterfly pea – sit in clear plastic bags next to rows of taro pudding in plastic boxes.
Every day, the 40-year-old company uses at least two kilos of single-use plastic.
“Plastic is easy, convenient and cheap,” says 44-year-old owner Watchararas Tamrongpattarakit.
Banana leaves used to be standard, but they are becoming increasingly expensive and difficult to obtain.
They are also difficult to use because they all need to be cleaned and checked for cracks.
It “is not practical for our sales pace,” Watchararas said.
Thailand began restricting single-use plastics even before the pandemic and asked major retailers to stop handing out bags for free.
But the policy has largely fallen by the wayside, with little acceptance among the country’s street food vendors.
Thailand produces two million tons of plastic waste per year, according to the country’s Pollution Control Department.
The World Bank estimates that 11 percent is not collected and is incinerated, dumped on land or ends up in rivers and the ocean.
Watchararas is trying to fit purchases into fewer bags and said some customers are bringing their own reusable containers and totes.
But Radeerut Sakulpongpaisal, a customer in Mali for thirty years, says she finds plastic “convenient.”
“I also understand the impact on the environment,” the bank employee said.
But “it’s probably easier for both the store and the customers.”
Lagos
At the Obalende market, in the heart of Lagos, Nigeria’s economic capital, empty water sachets lie on the ground.
Every day, Lisebeth Ajayi sees dozens of customers use their teeth to tear open the bags of ‘pure water’ and drink them.
“They don’t have money to buy bottled water, so they do pure water,” said the 58-year-old, who sells bottles and bags of water, soap and sponges.
Two 500 milliliter sachets sell for between 50 and 250 naira (3-15 US cents), compared to 250-300 naira for a 750 ml bottle.
Since they appeared in the 1990s, water sachets have become a major polluter in much of Africa, but they remain popular for drinking, cooking and even washing.
About 200 companies produce the bags in Lagos, and hundreds more recycle plastic, but supply far exceeds capacity in a country with few public waste bins and little environmental education.
Lagos banned single-use plastics in January, but with little impact so far.
The United Nations estimates that about 60 million water sachets are thrown away every day in Nigeria.
Rio
Every day, vendors walk the sands of some of Rio de Janeiro’s most beautiful beaches, carrying metal containers filled with the tea-like drink.
The ice-cold drink, infused with fruit juice, is poured into plastic cups for eager sun worshipers along the coast.
“Drinking buddy is part of the culture of Rio de Janeiro,” explained Arthur Jorge da Silva, 47, as he looked for customers.
He acknowledged the environmental impact of his plastic cup towers, in a country that was the fourth largest producer of plastic waste in 2019.
But “it is complicated” to find affordable alternatives, he told AFP.
The tanned vendor said vendors on the beach had been using plastic for as long as he could remember.
He pays a dollar for a tower of 20 cups and charges customers $1.80 per drink.
Waste containers along Rio’s beaches process about 130 tons of waste every day, but plastic is not separated and only three percent of Brazil’s waste is recycled annually.
Evelyn Talavera, 24, says she does her best to clean up after she leaves the beach.
“We need to take care of our planet, throw away the waste and keep the environment clean.”
Plastic straws have been banned in Rio’s restaurants and bars since 2018, and shops are no longer required to provide free plastic bags – although many still do.
Congress is also considering legislation that would ban all single-use plastics.
Paris
France has banned single-use plastics since 2016, but while items like straws and plastic cutlery have disappeared, plastic bags remain stubbornly common.
At the Aligre market in Paris, the stalls are packed with fruits, vegetables and piles of bags, ready to be handed out.
Most are stamped “reusable and 100 percent recyclable,” and some are described as compostable or made from natural materials.
But experts have questioned the environmental relevance of some of these claims.
Salesman Laurent Benacer receives a 24 euro ($26) box containing 2,000 bags every week.
“In Paris everyone asks for a bag,” he told AFP.
“I had stopped, but my neighbors continued, so I had to start again.”
There are alternatives such as paper bags, but some customers are simply not convinced.
“Plastic bags remain practical, so that everything doesn’t end up everywhere,” emphasizes 80-year-old customer Catherine Sale.
Dubai
At Allo Beirut restaurant in Dubai, plastic containers are piled high, ready to be filled and delivered across the city.
“We receive more than 1,200 orders per day,” says delivery driver Mohammed Chanane.
“We use plastic boxes because they are more airtight and preserve the food better,” he said.
With few foot traffic and an often scorching climate, many of Dubai’s 3.7 million residents rely on delivery for everything from petrol to coffee.
Residents of the United Arab Emirates have one of the highest amounts of waste per capita in the world.
And single-use plastics account for 40 percent of all plastic used in the country.
Since June, single-use plastic bags and several similar items have been banned. Polystyrene containers will follow next year.
Allo Beirut is considering the use of cardboard containers, a moving customer Youmna Asmar would like to welcome.
She admitted she was shocked by the build-up of plastic in her bins after a weekend of family deliveries.
“I tell myself, if we do all this, it will be a lot.”
burs/sah/sco
