If there is one thing our generation will be known for, it is the number of synthetic compounds that we made part of our lifestyles. Fiberglass, nylon, perfumes, paint, all sorts of resins, etc are some of the more notable ones of these compounds. Of all of them, however, none has been more embraced in Uganda than polyethylene aka kaveera. Wikipidea describes polyethylene as a thermoplastic commodity that is heavily used in consumer products. Over 60 million tons of the material are produced worldwide every year.
Polyethylene is made from a raw material that is synonymous with our generation petroleum aka black gold. The fraction of petroleum from which kaveera material is made is quite cheap, compared to other petroleum products like petrol or kerosene. The process of manufacture is cheap too. Kaveera comes from the same family of materials as that from which plastic mineral water bottles are made.
If you were to arrive from Mars and happen to land in Uganda today, you would wonder why there seems to be a lot of this stuff about and empty mineral water bottles being blown about with our other rubbish. It is difficult to trace a useable public rubbish bin anywhere in Uganda. The public for their part seem to enjoy throwing rubbish all over. Even 'welleducated' motorists take every opportunity to throw rubbish packaged in kaveera bags into the path of following traffic.
When it made its debut, many Ugandans could not believe they had managed to live without kaveera before. It has a very high strength to weight ratio, comes in all sorts of convenient shapes and sizes and is resistant to weathering. Most of all, the widely available raw material ensures that kaveera comes cheap really cheap.
Few foresaw that the Ugandan President would in November 2007 blame this material and its careless users for the floods that almost ruined CHOGM in Kampala. Kaveera is not biodegradable and is therefore usually only reduced by such artificial means as burning. It is very water resistant and consequently interferes with groundwater flow. Because it is so impervious, it restricts plant root growth in soil and causes the deaths of so many organisms. If carelessly disposed of, it presents a fire risk to us and gives off toxic fumes when burnt. Toxic additives are often added to kaveera during manufacture.
Ideally, the kaveera situation would be very manageable if the material was recycled. It is very possible to recycle kaveera but there is a catch. Kaveera comes in so many (hundreds of) grades and it therefore has to be sorted into these various grades during recycling. It is difficult to tell these grades apart by eye. Therefore, sorting used kaveera at source (rubbish skips) is very difficult. If grades are mixed, the recycling effort becomes useless. The volume of dirt/impurities found in used kaveera makes their cleaning/removal and consequently the recycling effort costly. Manufacturers are out to make profits, unless forced by law to clean up the environment. For that reason, they always opt to make kaveera out of fresh raw materials rather than recycle the stuff.
As long as we have weak laws governing manufacture and a shabby attitude while using kaveera, the menace is still with us. Both manufacturers and consumers should take responsibility for kaveera use and recycling. This requires going an extra mile and the will to change things. It may cost us some money and time but that is a far better option than getting killed by a material that was once our darling but has turned into an environmental threat.
