About
The theme of the conference – Towards Zero Plastics to the Seas of Africa – indicates a drive to stop plastics and other waste on land, at source, from finding its way to the seas.
This also means cleaning up the plastics that are already in the environment. The underlying philosophy is that if plastics are not in the natural environment, they cannot be blown or washed into the seas.
Plastics touch the lives of everyone, everywhere, every day. It is a wonderful material, but poorly managed. This conference is for everyone, for all people from different disciplines to work together and be a part of leading Africa to zero plastics to the seas. Delegates are invited to show what they are doing or believe should be done to achieve this movement and goal.
The Towards Zero Plastics to the Seas approach provides a focus which enables people to set goals and measure progress, ideally against time frames. It is valuable in setting frameworks to guide the development of National and Regional Action Plans that are so important to Africa. The conference is an opportunity to agree on best practices and to explore ways to measure progress towards Zero Plastics to the Seas, and ultimately measure progress towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals and the effectiveness of actions taken.
As the goal of the conference is to provide a platform that will contribute best practice recommendations for possible inclusion in the evolving action plans within various parts of Africa, the keynote, plenary, parallel session speakers and the discussion groups, panels and posters will all be geared towards finding solutions as we move Towards Zero Plastics to the Seas of Africa.
If you are involved in any aspect leading to better managing plastic in a way that your efforts are reducing the amount that might enter the environment and make its way to the seas, then plan to be at the conference. Register here
2020 Conference Themes
Day 1: Taking action to achieve zero plastics to the seas of Africa – and beyond
Day 2: The facts and fallacies of plastic pollution
Day 3: Inspiring change through education and communications
Day 4: Taking the lead in mitigating plastic pollution (industry, entrepreneurs, governments, corporates, civil society, etc)
Day 5: Uniting for change – leaders and youth tide the way forward.
Looking back
Conference 2017
The inaugural African Marine Waste Conference took place July 9th – 13th, 2017 in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
The conference was attended by approximately 230 delegates from 9 African states and a further 10 countries from other continents.