Africa is on the front line of the global conflict over plastic waste. Here, plastic saves lives, by allowing the sale of clean, safe water. It also destroys them, with discarded plastic causing fatal floods, toxic fires and polluting habitats. Ghana is often held up as a regional leader in the fight to stop plastic waste, in part because of much-hyped private sector effort. The initiative, backed by Coca-Cola, Unilever, Nestle, Danone and Dow Chemical, claims to offer "a second life" for plastic, by promoting proper waste disposal and recycling. But not everything is as it looks. Listen to "West Africa Is Drowning in Plastic. Who's Responsible?" by Kit Chellel, read by Scott Squires.

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