An allegedly illegal Chinese plastic recycling factory is polluting the Infulene neighbourhood, in Matola, Maputo province. Residents are already complaining of respiratory problems, and say that the water that leaves the company is toxic and contaminates the crops.
A highly visible chimney spews smoke that causes disease. The direction in which the smoke follows depends on the wind, and the intensity with which it comes out and spreads through the houses around it directly parallels the number of victims.
The problem is not only the toxic smoke that spreads through homes, but also the contaminated water that leaves the factory and flows into an improvised ditch before reaching agricultural fields with crops that feed many families. Disease is spreading through the land and air.
The factory in question is called Shenxian Plastic Recycling Limitada and has been operating in the neighbourhood of Infulene, city of Matola, Maputo Province, since 2022. Since it started operations, those who live in the vicinity of the company have complained of respiratory problems caused by factory activity.
“There are no children around here who don’t have problems. All the children in the Infulene neighbourhood have a cold. I have a lot of medicine, which I picked up at the hospital in case of any eventuality. That smoke is very toxic at night and we don’t sleep. There are people who already use inhalers because they can no longer bear it,” Infulene resident Pedro Zaqueu says.
The situation is even more serious for chronically ill people. “And all that smoke starts coming out, we don’t feel good, but what can we do? They (those at the factory) have already been received. Things are more serious for chronically ill people; they get worse. I’m sick myself. But what can I do?” asks Carolina Matsinhe, another Infulene resident.
And the situation only gets worse because, even at night, the factory doesn’t stop recycling plastic.
“Those machines work day and night. At night, they burn things that smell really bad. They put out a lot of dark smoke. Any day now, we will have lung problems,” reports yet another resident, Basílio Gomes.
The smoke is unavoidable for those living near the company, because the chimney is only three metres long – not even as high as some of the surrounding trees. “The chimney should be higher so that the smoke is higher,” one Infulene resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said. “That smoke comes out for all of us here. We get colds. Every week, we have to go to the hospital. There’s no way. This doesn’t help. It’s creating problems for us. It’s not even possible to cook in the backyard. This won’t do,” she said.
Contaminated water affects crops
On the ground, all you see is discarded plastic. For two years, it has formed a dump, right outside of the factory. From here, contaminated water flows down to the farms.
The filter system designed to prevent plastic from reaching the farms no longer works and everything ends up in the crops in the Vale do Influente.
“The factory that was installed here, in the area, is harming us, because it leaks dirty and smelly water. This water enters our ditches, from where we take the water for irrigation, and the crops do not survive,” says Rossina Maunze, a farmer in the Infulene valley.
Another, anonymous, producer adds: “That water, in fact, doesn’t help. It kills the crops, because it is salty and contains chemicals that are used in the factory.”
On rainy days, all the poorly discarded plastic from the recycling plant is washed onto the farms and the plastic, according to the producers, “It doesn’t rot easily. It gets in the way a lot. This doesn’t help. If I sow something where there is plastic, the crop does not develop well.”
Because of this, many vegetable beds have been abandoned, but, having no alternative, Rossina perseveres with agricultural production with only luck as her ally.
Do crops die because of the lack of rain or the water they use, we ask Rosina.
“We have water and rain, but if it were just the heat, we’ve been struggling for years until we can harvest. However, this is combined with contaminated water,” Rossina replies.
What little can be harvest from the farms, Infulene residents warn, may be contaminated.
“These things are taken and sold in the city. The person will eat without knowing that they are consuming a product that may be contaminated, but producers have no alternative. They live by this,” Pedro Zaqueu concludes.
In addition to crops, the contaminated water leaving the factory is decimating the fish in the ditches and in the Mulauzi river, is its final destination.
“The ‘chefe de quarteirão’ works right there”
Our reporting team established that there was no public consultation before the factory was installed in the neighbourhood, and the residents were simply surprised to find the factory already operating.
In fact, residents later learned that a restricted meeting in an informal environment had decided on the installation of the factory.
“They had a mini-party inviting the workers and were with a group from INAE (Inspectorate of Economic Activities) in a bar in the neighbourhood. They ate and drank. And then they said they would call us to show what was happening and what the company wanted to do. So far, this is the third time we have submitted the documentation, and it is not coming to anything,” Zaqueu complains.
The residents say, when they submitted the complaint to the head of the block, he simply ignored the matter.
“The ‘chefe de quarteirao’ is the worst of all. He even works right there. Will he order the company where he works to close so he won’t have a job? It’s not possible,” Basílio Gomes suspects.
The head of the block in fact works as a security guard at the polluting factory. According to information in our possession, it was he who helped the Chinese capital factory acquire the land for the factory.
“Humans consume plastic every day”
Environmentalist Rui Silva explains that humans consume plastic which, after being used and discarded, ends up in the ocean and subsequently serves as food for species that are part of the human diet.
“We ourselves end up ingesting microplastic, due to the fact that fish mistake plastic for food, in addition to other species that end up dying. This microplastic ends up in our bodies, because the fish we eat, the salt we use, 90% has microplastic particles,” Silva explains.
This is a general idea of what plastic does to human life.
We analysed the situation at the plastic recycling factory with the environmentalist, and talked about the consequences of this type of development close to homes.
“So, one of the things that can seriously affect people is the water which, infiltrated into the soil, may coincide with the passage of a water line, which means that anyone with a well nearby ends up getting contaminated water. This type of industry, as a rule, has to be located outside residential areas,” Silva observes.
For these types of industries, Rui Silva understands, the only solution is to have them closed, for the sake of people’s health and the environment. “In my opinion, there is no middle ground. There are industrial zones, where they could be, upon presentation of environmental impact studies, but near residences? There is no middle ground,” Silva concludes.
The Chinese company did not want to make any statement, and refused to show licenses its activity or environmental licenses, as well as the environmental impact study.
‘O País’ has determined that the factory that preceded Shenxian Plastic Recycling Limitada was fined around five million meticais and closed for violating environmental standards.
Information in our possession shows that the plastic recycling factory, In addition to grossly violating environmental laws, was installed in the same physical space where, two years ago, a similar company was closed for violating environmental standards.
Furthermore, it has no environmental licence, and no environmental impact assessment was carried out.
Source: O País / STV
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