Switch on your TV set, flick through a newspaper or magazine, read your online newsfeed, and chances are you will see daily stories about the scourge of plastic pollution affecting our planet. Africa is particularly badly affected and solutions need to be found if a global disaster for future generations is going to be averted. The plastics industry is big business in South Africa, employing more than 60 000 people and is estimated to be worth six billion dollars. According to the 2010 Jambeck report which studied marine waste, South Africa is ranked as the 11th highest contributor of plastics in the ocean, with 250 000 metric tons of plastic waste leaking into the ocean each year. That’s devastating news for the planet! This new environmental reality has created an awareness among South Africans to ditch single use plastics, and entrepreneurs such as Natasha Sideris, founder of the hugely popular Tashas restaurant chain, is aiming to have her 16 restaurants plastic-free as soon as possible. She explained that going green doesn’t come cheap; despite replacing cups and straws for biodegradable alternatives, it’s costing her 20 per cent more than plastic packaging. But she is one of a new generation of women entrepreneur eco-warriors in Africa who are consciously building sustainable businesses whilst at the same time helping to beat plastic pollution.

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