Assessment of the effect of Plastic Waste disposal In Uganda.
Abstract
This report details a research project carried to assess the effects of plastic waste disposal in
Uganda.
Uganda is a rapidly growing economy and like other modern economies, its increasingly
switching from using traditional material like metals and wood to plastics which have proved to
more efficient and less costly in production. But most plastic products are single use and are
therefore disposed after being used once, this has brought about a concern over plastic waste
since plastics are non-biodegrable and some take up to 450years to decompose
In this report, all life stages of plastics in Uganda have been assessed from production, usage,
disposal and recycling. Its been discovered that the most common types plastics are LDPE,
HDPE, PET, and PP and the most recycled ones are L/HDPE and PET as stated by most
companies. The recycling rate for Uganda is estimated to below 10% with most recycling plants
operating below capacity due to lack of materials.
Plastic waste has both negative and positive impacts. Among the positive impacts include; job
creation, revenue generation etc. and the negative effects include water and air pollution plus
related deaths, blockage of water channels, increased expenditure by the government and many
more.