Deadly floods of plastic in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Plastic disaster

There is no formal plastic waste collection in Kinshasa. People who live close to the river often throw their waste into it, as there’s no other place for them to dispose of it. They also use the plastic as flood defences; building up small piles of plastic along the river to try to protect their homes.

However, the plastic blocks the river from draining properly, and so when the rains come, floods quickly follow. Across Kinshasa, there have been up to two metres of flood water, which is also filled with waste, and has reached up to people’s roofs.

And where there’s flooding, waterborne diseases, such as cholera and diarrhoea, are not far behind. Many people – including children – have already become sick from the unclean water.

Poverty and plastic

One of the programmes that Tearfund’s local partner runs in Kinshasa is a hub to reuse plastic waste. It helps clean up the city and creates jobs for local people, who not only collect plastic waste but also turn it into tiles.

The plastic tiles have been approved by the government for use and are being used to build roads and for paving slabs in schools. Tearfund is working with our local partner for them to take over the running of this completely.

But these rains have been devastating for our local partner – and for the workers. The hub where the work is carried out was flooded, along with our partner’s offices. There were also lots of plastic that had been collected by people, which was then washed away in the floods – further adding to the waste problems in the city.

Many people in Kinshasa are paid daily for their work and so these floods will have lost people vital income – money they cannot afford to lose.

‘Please pray for the people of Kinshasa and for our local partners at this critical time. Thank you,’ says Alphonse.