In the crowded streets of Dar es Salaam, plastic bags flutter from market stalls, bottle caps lodge in drainage ditches, and discarded sachets swirl into the Indian Ocean with the tides. This isn’t just litter, it’s the frontline of a global crisis. And from 5th to 14th August, 2025, in Geneva, nations are negotiating what could be the world’s first legally binding treaty to end plastic pollution.
At the conferences that birthed the Global Plastics Treaty, phrases echoed through the halls: “Refuse single-use, choose sustainability,” “Less plastic, more life,” and “Say no to plastic, yes to a cleaner earth.” They weren’t just slogans; they were a movement for change for Tanzania and the rest of the world.
Tanzania’s coastline is part of the Western Indian Ocean, one of the fastest-growing marine economies and a major marine ecosystem in the world. But it’s also choking under the weight of plastic. A 2025 study by Mayoma and colleagues highlights that over 80 per cent of beach litter in Dar es Salaam was plastic. Fisheries, tourism, and public health are all at stake.
Yet, in Geneva, there’s a battle of argument brewing. Some powerful countries and corporate lobbyists want a watered-down treaty focused only on waste management and voluntary commitments. That approach would leave countries like Tanzania still dealing with the fallout without addressing the root cause: runaway plastic production.
In Dar es Salaam, blocked drains mean flash floods that wash waste and disease into homes. The plastic flooding our streets doesn’t originate here alone. Much of it is designed, manufactured, and marketed elsewhere, only to become our environmental burden. This is why Tanzania’s negotiators must demand a treaty that places the greatest responsibility on the world’s biggest plastic producers.
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A strong global plastics treaty must tackle the crisis at its source by setting production caps on plastics, because without turning off the tap, recycling and clean-up efforts are like trying to mop a flooded floor.
It must also impose toxic chemical bans, phasing out harmful additives at the design stage to protect both human and ecosystem health. To ensure equity, the agreement should guarantee financial and technical support for low and middle-income countries, enabling them not only to improve waste management but also to develop sustainable alternative materials industries.
Finally, corporate accountability is essential; plastic producers must bear the financial responsibility for collecting, recycling, or safely disposing of the products they put on the market.
This isn’t just an environmental issue, but rather an economic and personal one. Plastics block the very drainage that prevents cholera outbreaks. They pollute the Indian Ocean, a habitat for millions of aquatic organisms. They undermine tourism, one of our largest foreign-exchange earners.
And every minute we delay, more microplastics enter our food chain. Rahmawati, Nuzula, Sulistyo, and Hakim 2023 study found microplastics in fish sold in local markets. That means this crisis is not only in our gutters, it’s on our plates, gradually affecting our health.
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Tanzania should join the coalition of nations demanding legally binding global rules on plastic production, chemical additives, and waste trade, backed by transparent timelines and enforcement mechanisms to hold producers accountable, and supported by a just transition fund that enables countries to shift away from plastics toward sustainable materials.
When delegates return from Geneva, let it be with a treaty strong enough to clean up our oceans, unclog our drains, and protect our people. The slogans from the conference should not remain just words.
They must become a policy: Refuse single-use, choose sustainability. Less plastic, more life. Say no to plastic, yes to a cleaner earth. Because from Geneva’s negotiation tables to Dar es Salaam’s streets, the message is the same: Tanzania cannot afford a weak plastics treaty, and neither can the world.
Innocent James Matekere is an environmental coordinator at the China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Company (CPPEC), a contractor in the EACOP Project. He’s available at matekerei@gmail.com or on X as @MatekereI. The opinions expressed here are the writer’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of The Chanzo. If you are interested in publishing in this space, please contact our editors at editor@thechanzo.com.
