Plastic pollution: Senegal steps up the fight with a recycling plant
Senegal has a new ace up its sleeve when it comes to managing plastic waste. It's a turnkey recycling plant designed by the Plastic Odyssey association, and recently inaugurated by Senegal's Minister of Urban Planning, Local Authorities and Regional Development, Moussa Balla Fofana.
“Plastic Odyssey Factories” is the name given to Senegal’s new recycled plastic materials production unit. The facility, inaugurated on 4 June 2024 by Senegal’s Minister of Urban Planning, Local Authorities and Regional Development, Moussa Balla Fofana, is expected to help step up the fight against plastic waste pollution in the West African country. In Senegal, more than 200,000 tonnes of plastic are produced every year, of which only 9,000 tonnes are recycled. The rest is dumped into nature and the oceans, suffocating and killing marine biodiversity, particularly seabirds, turtles and other fish.
By 2026, the government expects the turnkey or “local factory” designed by the Plastic Odyssey association, as part of the “Sunu Plastic Odyssey” initiative, to be able to recover 3,000 tonnes of plastic waste in Senegal.
“Our Local Factories are inspired by innovations and systems used in the field around the world. They bring together, in the form of a container, all the machinery needed to transform waste into a new material or object”, says the non-governmental organisation (NGO) based in Marseille, France, which is also on a world tour to raise awareness of the need to protect marine biodiversity. Between February and March 2023, the Plastic Odyssey boat stopped off the coast of Senegal.
“Plastic pollution of the oceans comes from waste that is poorly managed on land and becomes irreversible once at sea. By recycling 1 in 2 pieces of waste in the 30 coastal countries most affected by plastic pollution, 40% of pollution on a global scale could be avoided”, points out the French NGO.
In addition to combating ocean pollution, the new recycled plastic materials production plant will create 200 jobs and train 1,000 young Senegalese in the sustainable management of plastic waste.
