Author: Alden Wicker
In 2010, when Zimbabwe’s new Environmental Management Agency was less than 8 years old, it looked at high-priority environmental issues it should tackle. And it identified polystyrene takeout containers. Some know this type of plastic by its brand name Styrofoam. Zimbabweans call their takeout containers kaylites. Regardless of the name, just like all over the world, this lightweight plastic was ending up in Zimbabwe’s water bodies, where it broke up into tiny, impossible-to-clean-up, bits.