End of Plastic Bottles and Packages in Cameroon

Wilfred Enow Agbor
Yaounde, Cameroon

Plastic production companies in Cameroon have till March 2014 to stop the production of plastic packages and bottles. This pronouncement was made by the Minister of Environment for the Protection of Nature and Sustainable Development, Hele Pierre, following a press conference held in his ministry.

This venture aims at protecting the environment from eminent danger yet to be noticed by the citizens. Experts have discovered that plastic packages and bottles constitute danger to the environment as well as human beings. Statistics from the ministry of Environment for the Protection of Nature and Sustainable Development proved that over 6 million tons of plastic packages are produced every year.

Hele Pierre,  Minister of Environment for the Protection of Nature and Sustainable Development

Hele Pierre, Minister of Environment for the Protection of Nature and Sustainable Development

Experts have equally discovered that products made using plastic can take between four hundred to one million years to get decay. These plastics are produced from petroleum waste products which contain toxic and poisonous chemicals that have very devastating effect to man, animal and environment.

Some reasons were advanced by the minister as to the negative effects of the   use of plastics in Cameroon:

Warmed food put in plastic material heat such material which emits chemicals into the food, which when consumed lead to cancer.

Plastic bottles - environmental concern in Cameroon

Plastic bottles - environmental concern in Cameroon

Plastic filling bottles contain a chemical known as biphenyl which in turn causes sterility.

Further, plastic packages and bottles during the rainy season block water channels and cause flood.

Equally of Importance is the effect of plastics on crops. The fact that plastics take a considerable longer period to decay, causes crops not to do well or even grow when thrown in farm land,

Finally, animals like cows that feed on grass at times chew plastic which get stuck to their vowels and cause them to die.

The devastating effects derived from the use of plastics have made participants to prefer the days of old where people eat and drink from calabash. They even prefer leaves to tie items bought from the market. Alice Atem, a student told iCameroon that she will prefer to use leaves to tie things bought from the market in order to avoid cancer as she is now aware of the adverse effects of plastics.

The minister, Hele Pierre, advised that companies can change their production method by producing materials that may not take long to deteriorate. Any company that continues production after the dead line as per the minister will be severely punished.

 

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