Huge layers of plastic waste ride the water and block the turbines of the largest hydroelectric plant in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo polluted by thousands of bottles, cans and other objects thrown into the lake

Huge layers of plastic waste ride the water and block the turbines of the largest hydroelectric plant in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo polluted by thousands of bottles, cans and other objects thrown into the lake.

The Ruzizi dam is polluted by thousands of bottles, cans and other objects thrown into the lake, which stretches 90 kilometres (56 miles) along the border between DR Congo and Rwanda.

"Since the lake flows towards the Ruzizi River, all the waste thrown into it comes here little by little," Lievin Chizungu, production manager at the dam's power station, told AFP.

The mountainous terrain and rainy climate around lakeside Bukavu, capital of South Kivu province, do not help.

One of the four units in the plant was damaged by debris at the end of January, and it is still down.

"The impact is huge. We have a deficit of 6.3 megawatts out of 30 total MW that we must produce not only for South Kivu, but also for neighbouring North Kivu province and for Burundi," Chizungu said.

Garbage also caused an alternator to fail at the Ruzizi 2 power plant about 25 km south of Bukavu. With the damage at both plants, they are 20 MW short, Chizungu said.

This has provoked "many power outages in Bukavu and Uvira".

To combat the plague of plastic waste filling the world's lakes, oceans and lands, the United Nations launched negotiations in March in Kenya for a global treaty against plastic pollution.