Every year, 400 million tonnes of plastic waste are produced worldwide, much of which is thrown away after just a few minutes of use.
Negotiators hope to reach a first global treaty against plastic pollution by 2024, but in five very different countries, AFP found that single-use plastic remains hugely popular as a cheap and convenient choice, illustrating the challenges ahead.
Bangkok
On a Bangkok street lined with street vendors, customers queue for Maliwan’s famous traditional treats.
Steamed cakes — green with pandan leaves or blue with butterfly peas — are placed in clear plastic bags, next to rows of taro pudding in plastic boxes.
This small business founded 40 years ago uses at least two kilos of single-use plastic every day.
“Plastic is simple, practical and cheap,” says owner Watchararas Tamrongpattarakit, 44.
Banana leaves, once common, have become increasingly expensive and difficult to find, as well as being cumbersome to use, as each leaf must be cleaned and checked for tears.
Thailand began restricting single-use plastics before the COVID-19 pandemic, asking major retailers to stop giving out free bags.
But this policy has largely remained a dead letter and street food vendors have hardly adopted it.
Thailand produces two million tonnes of plastic waste per year. The World Bank estimates that 11% of this waste is not collected and is burned, dumped on the ground or dumped into rivers and oceans.
Watchararas strives to consolidate purchases into fewer bags, and some customers bring their own reusable containers and bags.
But Radeerut Sakulpongpaisal, a Maliwan customer for 30 years, finds the plastic “convenient,” although she also understands “the impact on the environment.”
Lagos
In Obalende market, in the heart of Nigeria’s economic capital, Lagos, empty water bags litter the ground.
Every day, Lisebeth Ajayi sees dozens of customers tear open the sachets of “pure water” with their teeth and drink.
“They can’t afford to buy bottled water,” says the 58-year-old, who sells bottles and sachets of water, soap and sponges.
Two 500ml sachets sell for between 50 and 250 naira (2-13 euro cents), compared to 250 to 300 naira for a 750ml bottle.
Since their introduction in the 1990s, water bags have become a major pollutant across much of Africa, but they remain popular for drinking, cooking and washing.
Some 200 companies produce bags in Lagos and although several hundred others recycle plastic, most of the waste ends up on the ground in a country where public trash cans are few and environmental education is poorly developed.
Lagos banned single-use plastic in January, but the impact has been limited so far.
The United Nations estimates that up to 60 million sachets of water are thrown away every day in Nigeria.
Rio
Every day, vendors walk the sands of some of the most beautiful beaches in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, carrying metal containers filled with mate, a tea-like drink.
The ice-cold drink, infused with fruit juice, is handed out in plastic cups to sunbathers milling around the waterfront.
“Drinking mate is part of the culture of Rio de Janeiro,” says Arthur Jorge da Silva, 47, on the lookout for customers.
He acknowledges the environmental impact of his plastic cup towers, in a country ranked fourth as the producer of plastic waste in 2019.
But “it’s complicated” to find affordable alternatives, he told AFP.
According to him, mate vendors on the beach have been using plastic for as long as he can remember.
He pays a dollar for a tower of 20 cups and charges customers $1.80 per drink.
The trash bins along Rio’s beaches receive some 130 tons of waste per day, but plastic is not sorted and only 3% of Brazilian waste is recycled each year.
Evelyn Talavera, 24, says she does her best to clean up after she leaves the beach. “We have to take care of our planet, throw away trash, keep the environment clean.”
Plastic straws have been banned in Rio’s restaurants and bars since 2018, and stores are no longer required to provide free plastic bags — although many still do.
Brazil’s Congress is also considering legislation that would ban all single-use plastic.
Paris
In France, in a country that has banned many plastic items for several years, plastic cups, straws and forks have almost disappeared, but one item is holding out: the bag.
“A bag? There you have it.” At the Aligre market in Paris, the twenty or so stalls present the same configuration: fruit, vegetables and a slew of plastic bags.
Laurent Benacer, a market gardener for 35 years, buys “in boxes of 2000, at 24 euros each, they last me a week.”
Most are stamped “reusable and 100% recyclable”. Because if single-use plastic bags have been banned in France since 2016, reusable bags (made of slightly thicker plastic), “bio-sourced” or compostable are still available.
“The bio-sourced [à base de matières premières naturelles] “is of absolutely no interest. What is important is biodegradability in natural conditions,” says Nathalie Gontard of the National Institute for Agricultural, Food and Environmental Research (INRAE).
At the market, shopkeepers and local residents are passing the buck. “In Paris, everyone asks us for bags. I had stopped, but since the neighbors continued, I was forced to start again,” laments Laurent Benacer.
Alternatives exist, such as cardboard bags. But “the plastic bag remains practical, so as not to scatter everything,” summarizes Catherine Salé, an 80-year-old local resident.
Dubai
At Allo Beirut restaurant in Dubai, plastic containers are stacked, waiting to be filled and delivered across the city.
“We receive more than 1,200 orders a day,” assures Mohammed Chanane, head of deliveries, specifying that he uses “plastic boxes because they are more airtight and they preserve food better.”
With few pedestrians and often scorching weather, Dubai’s 3.7 million residents rely on delivery for everything from gas to coffee.
UAE residents produce one of the highest volumes of waste per capita in the world, with single-use plastic accounting for 40% of all plastic used in the country.
Since June, single-use plastic bags and several similar items have been banned. Polystyrene containers will follow next year.
Allo Beirut is considering using cardboard containers, a move that customer Youmna Asmar would welcome.
She admits to being horrified by the accumulation of plastic in her bins after a weekend of family orders.
“I tell myself that if everyone does the same, it’s a lot,” she sighs.