‘NO PLASTIC CAMPAIGN’ KICKS OFF ON POSITIVE NOTE

MBABANE – The ‘No Plastic Campaign; Phatsa Sakho Nawe’ started on a positive note and was received well by consumers.

This is according to an observation made by the participating leading retailers. Pick n Pay Regional Manager Mario Fernandes said there were no major setbacks as most customers were aware of the campaign.

Fernandes said the Eswatini Environment Authority (EEA) greatly assisted them in terms of awareness through using the various media platforms, hence consumers were aware of the campaign. 

He said the Minister of Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Moses Vilakati, also visited their two stores at the Hub in Manzini and Riverstone to mark the beginning of the campaign. He noted that the campaign was a good initiative that sought to protect the environment by recycling plastic bags found around communities which endangered livestock in particular.

Extended

Fernandes thanked all the participating retailers including Spar, Shoprite Checkers, Boxer Stores and Ok Foods for agreeing to come on board and running with the campaign. According to Fernandes, they hoped the campaign would be extended to other retailers, adding that a meeting would be held on Wednesday with EEA on that regard. However, he said nothing had been finalised yet pertaining to the extension of the campaign to other retailers.

He stated that some of their customers came with their own bags, while a majority of them bought the shopping bags which were limited due to the fact that they had relied on one supplier. “We tried our best also to provide the Pick n Pay bags, however, they were  also sold out,” he explained.

Further, he noted that they gave their customers an option to load their groceries in boxes instead.

Fernandes said they would be well prepared this weekend as they had ordered enough bags from other local suppliers.

He noted though that one or two customers complained, but positives responses came from most of the customers. Spar’s Manager Hassan Mansoor said the campaign started on a very positive note with minimal resistance from only a few customers. 

Meanwhile, OK Foods Store Manager Lucky Tsabedze also shared the same sentiments, adding that their customers responded positively and were happy with the shopping bags. He said some took their groceries without putting them in bags.

Bags were being sold from E2 to E11.99 at most.

EEA’s Belusile Mhlanga also said the campaign started on a positive note and most customers were buying the shopper bags, while others brought their own and others carried their groceries as single items. Mhlanga said they received enormous support from other retailers despite the participating ones. She encouraged more shops to come on board as the campaign was a national exercise aimed at coming up with a solution towards plastic bags pollution in the country and overall poor waste management that was experienced. “It is more of an experiment to see which could be a viable solution because there were options on plastic bags pollution which included a total ban or levy. Also, it is an education and awareness platform,” she said.

Mhlanga said the campaign was based on SDG 12 on sustainable consumption to encourage reuse of material.

Consumers were also happy with the campaign, stating that plastic bags should be completely banned in the country.

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