Together let us protect our environment

On the occasion of World Environment Day it is imperative that the opportunity the day presents is seized, to take a lead in raising awareness of growing environmental hazards to the country. It is the collective duty of every individual, organisation, business house and the government to come together and mitigate environmental degradation.

To this effect and in the field of waste management, certain corporates have shown a gross lack of responsibility towards the environment in which they operate in, and Delta Corporation, Zimbabwe is a case in point.

Delta is the largest company in the country in terms of market capitalisation, and yet it has been found wanting with respect to its recently launched 'Super Chibuku' opaque beer which is packaged in an embossed PET bottle with a screw cap.

A quick survey around Harare's streets by Opton environmental Consultancy, as to the most prevalent form of pollution found on our environment today, readily reveals the unmistakable brown plastic bottle flooding the earth and this has become a major environmental issue of concern.

 As Delta's margins reflect, consumers have warmed up to the innovative way of packaging traditional beer, but the environment has suffered at the hands of the empty containers and screw caps that are being discarded so thoughtlessly all over the place.

These plastic bottles are made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastics, but PET's don't biodegrade they photodegrade, which means they break down into smaller fragments over time. Those fragments are guilty of absorbing toxins that pollute our waterways, contaminate our soil and sicken animals. In fact, because these PET bottles do not break down easily, they are bound to end up in landfills.   

Companies like Delta ought to be pressed to take responsibility for their product ‘from the cradle to the grave' and since they have taken control over product design and marketing; they should also have the ability to reduce toxicity and waste. There has to be a shift of waste management from government to private industry, where producers are obliged to internalise waste management costs.

For every hundred meters a person walks in residential areas today, one is most likely to come across the dreaded brown plastic bottle packaged by Delta, which shows the company's total disregard for the product's entire life cycle.

Admittedly and in hindsight, this isn't just Delta's fault, it is a global problem and ultimately the responsibility lies with the buying public. Zimbabweans have a general culture of throwing litter on the ground and not in bins, but Delta still has a duty to influence customer behaviour. Educating consumers about recycling is also an important part of increasing recycling rates, and this may include online advertising, radio coverage, and outreach on social media platforms.

The time is nigh for companies to start looking for packaging ideas that are holistic solutions when viewed in the context of the complete product life cycle and not just eye-grabbing marketing slogans like ‘keep the city clean' that only succeed in earning public relations points in the short-term.

To help save our environment, systems that recover beverage containers for reuse is essential. From industry-financed collection organisations, community funded recycling programs where informal collectors are included and government mandated programs, these collective efforts helps to find sustainable ways to mitigate environmental litter.

Large corporates have been striving to sell their products to the extent of investing sums so vast that most of us are unable to comprehend the figures involved. In parallel, our natural world has gone unattended. As such, World Environment Day is an opportunity for us to get involved in something which is critical for our shared future and work together to protect our environment.