Plastic waste pollution on the African continent is “spiralling out of control”, according to Tearfund (Teddington, UK; www.tearfund.org), an international relief and development agency, which called on delegates to the recent United Nations’ plastics treaty negotiations in Nairobi, Kenya, to address the problem with meaningful action.

Tearfund said enough plastic waste to cover a football pitch was openly dumped or burned in sub-Saharan Africa every minute, and the charity highlighted data published by the Organisation of Economic Cooperation Development (OECD) that showed the region will produce almost six times more plastic waste in 2060 than it did in 2019.

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Tearfund, which attended the negotiations in Kenya, called on governments to push for a plastics treaty “that fully addresses the impacts of waste on people living in poverty”. The group said it wants the final agreement to contain four requirements: the reduction of plastic production and the scaling-up up of reuse solutions; universal access to waste collection and recycling; respect for waste pickers, including a just transition; and a response with mechanisms to ensure businesses and governments take action.

The Rev Dennis Nthenge, chaplain to the Anglican Archbishop of Kenya and Tearfund activist, said it was “crucial [that] this treaty delivers real change for communities across Africa, and especially for those living in poverty who are most impacted by the plastic pollution crisis”.

Treaty talks are set to resume in April in the Canadian capital of Ottawa.