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The state and impact of waste management in Africa
– The growing problem of single-use plastic
Prof Linda Godfrey
Manager: Waste RDI Roadmap Implementation Unit, DST/CSIR
Principal Scientist: CSIR
Associate Professor: Northwest University
African Marine Waste Network Webinar
10 April 2019
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• The first Africa Waste Management
Outlook was published by UNEP on the 5
June 2018
• In response to the need identified in the
Global Waste Management Outlook
(UNEP/ISWA, 2015), for greater detail on
waste issues at the regional level
• Written by authors across Africa, the AWMO
focusses on the state of solid waste
management waste governance
impacts of waste in Africa waste as
resource appropriate solutions for Africa,
and financing waste management
© CSIR 2019 www.csir.co.za
The state of waste in Africa
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Chapter 1: Waste as a priority
• Africa is set to undergo a major
transformation over the next century
as its population explodes, cities
urbanize and consumer purchasing
habits change
• This is expected to lead to
exponential growth in waste
generation
• This growth is expected to be so
significant that any decrease in waste
generation in other regions globally
will be overshadowed by Africa
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Chapter 1: Waste as a priority
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• 10 countries are expected to
account collectively for more than
half of the world’s projected
population growth over the period
2017-2050 – 6 of these are in
Africa (UN DESA, 2017)
• This growth will place an
increased burden on
already strained waste
infrastructure in African cities
and towns
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Chapters 3 & 5: State & Impact of waste
• Key issues emerging:
- Current waste management
practices are causing significant
social, economic and
environmental impacts
- However, little information on the
cost of inaction exists for Africa
- Waste streams of concern include,
amongst others – hazardous waste
(e.g. WEEE), single-use plastics,
organic waste (e.g. OFMSW)
© CSIR 2018 www.csir.co.za
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6 South Africa © Linda Godfrey
On average, 13% of MSW in Africa is plastic waste, the bulk
of which is dumped
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7 Kenya © Costas Velis
With an average waste collection rate of only 55%, MSW
collection services in most African countries are inadequate
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>90% of the waste generated in Africa is disposed of to land,
typically to uncontrolled and controlled dumpsites
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The open burning of waste causes significant air pollution
which impacts human health, contributes to changing climates
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10 Kenya © James Wakibia
Indiscriminate dumping of waste in urban areas creates
risks of disease, flooding and environmental pollution
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11 Ghana, Accra © Christoffer Back Vestli
Changing consumption patterns and weak collection
systems results in leakage of plastic into the environment
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5 of the top 20 countries ranked by mass of mismanaged
plastic waste in 2010 were in Africa (Jambeck et al., 2015)
© CSIR 2019 www.csir.co.za
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Chapter 4: Waste governance
• Key issues emerging:
- Inability of governments and
private industry to keep pace with
growing waste streams and the
timely development of policies and
strategies
- The response from many African
countries has been product bans,
e.g. plastics
- Slow adoption of alternative policy
instruments such as incentives and
EPR
© CSIR 2019 www.csir.co.za
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The tied is changing on single-use plastics
• 29 countries in Africa have already
implemented some sort of
regulation (local or national)
against plastics (UNEP 2018)
• Regulations vary from a ban on
single-use (thin) plastic bags (and
associated requirements for bag
thickness) to complete bans on all
plastic bags
© CSIR 2019 www.csir.co.za
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Chapter 6: Waste as resource
• Key issues emerging:
- Diverting waste away from
dumpsites towards reuse,
recycling and recovery could
inject an additional US$8 billion
per year into the African economy
- Creating significant socio-
economic opportunities
- And if done responsibly, at the
same time address environmental
and human health issues
© CSIR 2019 www.csir.co.za
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16 © Linda Godfrey
Viable resources are being lost to the economy through
dumping of waste – polymer, fibre, metals, nutrients
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Currently only 4% of the waste generated in Africa is
recycled, often by informal actors (as with reuse)
© Linda Godfrey
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18 © Linda Godfrey
The informal sector is active across Africa - integrating
them is key to unlocking these resource opportunities
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Chapter 7: Appropriate solutions
• Key issues emerging:
- Many social and technological
innovations have emerged in the
waste sector in Africa
- But uptake of alternative waste
treatment technologies is slow
- A combination of small-scale,
low-cost, decentralized,
community-driven initiatives and
larger-scale, higher-cost,
centralized initiatives will be
required
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Examples of social and technological innovations in Africa
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Examples of social and technological innovations in Africa
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Examples of social and technological innovations in Africa
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Chapter 8: Financing waste management
• Key issues emerging:
- Poor financing is a key constraint
to development of the sector
- The waste sector is perceived as
a high-risk investment in Africa
- Estimated investment needs for
the sector range from US$6-42
billion (in 2015), depending on
technologies implemented
- Public-private partnerships are
key to unlocking opportunities
© CSIR 2019 www.csir.co.za
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24 © CSIR 2019 www.csir.co.za
Chapter 9: Conclusions & Way forward
• The African Union has set an aspiration that “African cities will be
recycling at least 50% of the waste they generate by 2023”
• The authors of the AWMO fully support this goal and believe that
even higher rates can be achieved by focusing on –
• Opportunity waste streams –
• (i) diversion of organic waste to composting, bioenergy
recovery or higher value product recovery (biorefinery)
• (ii) reuse and recycling of paper & packaging e.g.
plastic, paper, metal, glass
• (iii) refurbishment, repair, reuse, recycling of e-waste
• Appropriate collection systems and local end-use markets
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What needs to happen …
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How this needs to happen …
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27 © CSIR 2019 www.csir.co.za
• In finalizing the Africa Waste
Management Outlook,
concerned citizens across
Africa started sending us
photos of the plastic problem
• Some of these photos are
shown here
Citizen science
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28 Cameroon © Tala Nche
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30 Cameroon © Tala Nche
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32 Kenya © James Wakibia
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33 Kenya © Costas Velis
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35 Cameroon © Tala Nche
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36 Cameroon © Tala Nche South Africa © Hanno Langenhoven
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37 © Janis Brizga
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38 © Claudia Giacovelli
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Concluding thoughts
• If cities, towns, communities in Africa cannot move to a 100%
collection rate, waste will continue to “leak” into the
environment
• Leaving government’s with little choice but to move to
product bans, particularly for persistent waste streams such
as plastic (discussion extending to other single-use plastics)
• In addition to bans, stakeholders are pushing for alternative
(often competing) solutions – reduced plastics consumption,
product replacement (biobenign), increased waste
collection, increased recycling
© CSIR 2019 www.csir.co.za
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• These decisions to ban/reduce/replace are further
complicated by potential economic (and job) losses; risks to
food and water security (ill afford in Africa)
© CSIR 2019 www.csir.co.za
• Africa could be the next “Asia”
when it comes to single-use
plastic leakage
• In my opinion – there is no one,
single solution
• Solving the plastic problem will
require pulling all of these
handbrakes
• These decisions have to be
evidenced
Concluding thoughts
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• Questions:
• When it comes to single-use
plastics in Africa, what do you
think countries should be
focussing their attention?
• What is the solution for Africa?
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Concluding thoughts
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QUESTIONS
Thank you
Prof Linda Godfrey
Manager | Waste RDI Roadmap Implementation Unit |
DST Principal Scientist | Waste for Development | CSIR
Extraordinary Associate Professor | North-West University
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.csir.co.za and www.wasteroadmap.co.za
© CSIR 2018 www.csir.co.za