Goma youth join drive to discourage use of plastic bags

Plastic bags in Africa can be a thing of the past in the next few years. Many countries like Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda have made it crystal clear that plastic bags, known for choking the earth, should ultimately be banned in favour of eco-friendly bags.

In Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a group of 10 youths and women has started a project called Community Programme Congo to make bags out of papers with the primary aim of helping to create employment and conserve the environment.

The project is an initiative of Virunga Community Programs, a conservation nonprofit with headquarters in Goma that helps promote conservation initiatives in the broader Virunga massif.

According to Dunia Deogratias Bitwayiki, the administrator in charge of the project, they initiated the project in August 2018 after realising that plastic bags are at the forefront of blocking drainage systems and they also contribute to an unsightly image of the town by collecting in heaps by the roadside.

He says the project also comes at a time when the DRC government is toying with the idea of entirely banning the use of plastic bags, following similar efforts by some East African countries.

“Congolese officials have announced their intent to ban the use of plastic bags to curb environmental damage, and we saw this as an opportunity to launch a paper bag making project,” says Bitwayiki.

He adds that before they officially started the project, they did feasibility studies in Goma and market research around kiosks, retail shops and hotels and found that there were a need and potential market for the product.

“We discovered that most of the businesses in Goma town were environmentally-conscious and were seeking alternative solutions to the use of plastic bags that were contributing to the acute environmental damage. This gave us the encouragement and impetus we needed to launch our paper bag making project,” he says.

Bitwayiki adds that even though they lacked the capital to launch the project in an industrial scale, they used their own resourcefulness and innovativeness and hoped that as they grow, they will get machines to mass-produce the paper bags.

He says that right now they are manually producing the paper bags using their own hands, which is a significant challenge to them considering that the market for their paper bags is increasing by the day.

He adds that with the DRC intending to ban the use of plastic bags in a bid to promote environmental conservation and deal with severe waste management problems, the market for their paper bags will extend beyond Goma and they are trying to find ways to deal with this.

“Apart from lack of machines to make the bags, another major challenge is the lack of money for our daily operational programs. This is a project that’s in its nascent stage, and we need all the help we can to push it forward. The project has been born and what we need now is for it to grow,” Bitwayiki says.

Bitwayiki adds that the project is now a source of income for ten people who can now afford to take care of themselves.

“Apart from that, “he adds, “we also help in raising awareness about environmental conservation by producing eco-friendly products.”

He says that the paper bag is eco-friendly since it can readily decompose while plastic bags will take too long.

Bitwayiki also says he believes that eventually Congolese are going to opt for the paper bags instead of plastic bags as the government, conservationists and organisations like Virunga Community Programs are stepping up their efforts to promote environmental conservation.

He says that they want to produce enough quantity of bags to keep up with market demand, but they are still hampered by lack of machines and resources to do so, adding that their dream is to have a plant where they can supply the bags not only in the DRC but also in the neighboring countries and beyond.