Biotechnology, Enzymes, and the Politics of Plastic Waste in Africa EP. 7. The Solomon Atah Podcast

In episode 7 of The Solomon Atah Podcast, we sit with Dr. Ayodeji Amobonye, a leading biotechnologist and a top 2 percent globally listed scientist for 2025, to unpack one of Africa’s most urgent and under examined challenges: plastic waste, biotechnology, and environmental justice.
This conversation goes beyond science as technique. It interrogates who controls innovation, who bears environmental risk, and how biotechnology and enzyme driven solutions are reshaping the future of waste management in Africa.
Dr. Amobonye offers rare insight into how enzymatic biotechnology, gene based solutions, and bio engineered systems can break down plastics at molecular level, while also exposing the political, economic, and infrastructural constraints that determine whether these solutions ever reach African cities and communities.
This episode is essential listening for researchers, policy thinkers, urban planners, environmental activists, students of science and technology studies, and anyone interested in Africa’s sustainable future.
In this episode, we explore:
• Biotechnology and enzyme based plastic degradation
• The science behind biodegradable plastics
• Plastic waste as a political and economic problem
• Environmental injustice and global waste economies
• Africa’s role in global biotechnology innovation
• Why scientific solutions fail without policy alignment
• The future of circular economies in African cities

About the guest:

Dr. Ayodeji Amobonye is an internationally recognised biotechnologist whose research focuses on enzymes, biodegradation, and sustainable industrial biotechnology. His work places him among the top 2 percent of scientists globally in 2025, with significant contributions to plastic waste reduction and environmental biotechnology.

Why this conversation matters:

Plastic waste is not just an environmental issue. It is a question of power, labour, governance, and global inequality. This episode reframes biotechnology as both a scientific and political instrument in Africa’s development trajectory.

Watch, reflect, and engage:

If you are interested in biotechnology, plastic waste, environmental sustainability, African science, policy innovation, and future facing research, this episode is for you.

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Keywords and discoverability focus:
Biotechnology Africa, plastic waste Africa, enzymes plastic degradation, environmental biotechnology, Dr Ayodeji Amobonye, African scientists, biodegradable plastics, sustainability Africa, science policy Africa, biotechnology podcast, plastic pollution solutions, circular economy Africa, enzyme technology plastics