Is circularity possible in Zim

Witness Dlamini

“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.” This quote by Albert Einstein has reverberated with me ever since I first came across it while perusing the work of the renowned physicist. It has become more of my personal dictum. 

As an environmentalist with an urge for innovation and sustainability, I believe that inquisitiveness is the engine that propels progress and change. That is why I am writing this paper to critique the suitability of the current waste management policies in a move towards achieving a circular economy in the face of dynamic and complex waste production and disposal systems in Zimbabwe. 

In economics, circularity means a product, service, or resource is renewed or regenerated, rather than wasted. In a circular economy, when a product or resource is used, it’s then recycled, composted, or re-used in a way that allows it to go back into a new lifecycle or supply chain.

The increasing environmental pollution due to waste and climate change evolving at an unprecedented rate in Zimbabwe due to augmented resource use, speedy urbanisation,  industrialisation and population growth. As such, change towards circularity is critical and more germane than ever before as it pursues to enhance production by materials circulation in the production system and slowing, narrowing and closing the resource loop. 

The switch to a sustainable Circular Economy calls for a paradigm shift from the common linear production procedures based on take-make-waste discourse towards circularity. In a bid to enhance my knowledge on circular economy and how it can play a key role in driving Zimbabwe towards the achievement of SDGs, I have taken some massive online open courses (MOOCS) delivered by renowned universities in circular economy. One fundamental concept that I grasped is the three ingredients that are a prerequisite for achieving circular economy and these included circular value creation, value proposition  enabling circularity and  circular value network. 

The environmental management Agency (EMA) asserts that 1.7 million tonnes of solid waste are generated in Zimbabwe per annum, with the majority of the waste ending up in landfills and dumpsites.

 Adoption of a circular economy involves a paradigm shift towards sustainable business models plummeting resources utilised, waste produced thereby preserving natural resources leading to environmental pollution reduction. Consequently, this calls for the law to drive change through adoption of policies that support  sustainable use of natural resources and waste control. 

The need for environmental sustainability in Zimbabwe is acknowledged by the Zimbabwean Constitution of 2013. Section 73 entrenches a clause on environmental rights which include pollution prevention, encouraging ecologically sustainable development and use of natural resources while supporting social and economic development. In a move to ensure sustainable environmental management, the Zimbabwean constitution calls for the enactment of legislative measures for environmental protection. 

In the same vein, the jurisdictive structure of Zimbabwe entails the key Act, the Environmental Management Act and its auxiliary regulations.

The Environmental Management (Chapter 20:27) No. 13 of 2002 is the principal, first regulatory framework guiding environmental issues in Zimbabwe. The Act covers general environmental issues and is supplemented by other auxiliary policies that are in harmony with it. Through section 69, the Act stipulates standards of waste management whereby companies producing waste are obliged to adopt strategies (Recycling, Treatment & Reclamation) to minimalize waste. While it is not specified that these measures are directed towards the circular economy, if implemented, they might lead to sustainable resource use hence stimulating socio-economic development towards a circular economy.

 Additionally, whereas the section specifies that breaching this regulation is a crime indictable by incarceration of less than five years or to a fine, it does not specify any inducements for adoption of the measures promoting circular economy. 

Statutory instrument (SI) 6 of 2007 (Effluent and Solid waste disposal) signified the commencement of the adoption of regulations pertinent to waste management in Zimbabwe. While this instrument controls solid waste and effluent disposal, it is argued that it does not overtly promote circularity as it espouses the use of the polluter pays principle hence economically established companies might set aside budget for the waste disposal and exclude circularity. 

In the same year (2007), hazardous Waste Management Regulations (SI 10 of 2007) was adopted which guides the issuance of licenses to waste generators and handlers for the production, storage, use, transportation treatment, or disposal of hazardous waste. While the instrument provides for the regulation of generation and disposal of hazardous waste, it is silent on strategies to promote circularity in Zimbabwe. 

The Statutory Instrument, Environmental Management: Plastic Packaging and Plastic Bottles Regulations (98 of 2010) forbids the production for use in Zimbabwe, commercial circulation, or importing plastic packaging with a wall thickness less than thirty micrometres. This instrument can be described as the most relevant policy directed towards circular economy as it promotes eco design of plastic packaging in Zimbabwe.

 However, scholar Rukani in the paper titled “Plastics and Circular Economy: An analysis of the Environmental Regulations’ Effectiveness in Plastic Waste Management and the Integration of Circular Economy in Harare, Zimbabwe” argues that the regulations have not realised the envisioned objectives as plastic waste is still a challenge in Zimbabwe. 

In conclusion, this paper postulates that the policies in Zimbabwe do not directly support the implementation of circular economy from a regulatory perspective as companies are of the view that the policies adopt the use of stick instead of carrot. 

 However, some companies voluntarily implement circularity strategies. As such, this paper recommends investment in rigorous and enduring effort to promote circular economy and incentivising organisations implementing circular economy approaches by the central government.

 Moreover, there is a need to update policies to promote circular economy strategies and subsidising businesses involved in solid waste recycling. 

Witness Dlamini is an Environmentalist who holds a B.Sc. in Environmental Science and Health from the National University of science and technology. He is passionate about solid waste management, circular economy and Environmental policy.