Subsequently, this has led to expanding risky waste material sites because the waste pollution from these sites has reached a state of emergency across the African continent.
However, for the African Union’s Agenda 2063: “The Africa We Want”, Africa needs to pursue sustainable waste management approaches to ensure the appropriate preservation of the environment and curb possible further pollution. Thus, pursuing sustainable waste management approaches will ensure the realisation of AU’s Agenda 2063, Goal 7, which aspires for environmentally sustainable and climate-resilient economies within African communities.
It has been projected that by 2050, the volume of waste will triple from 174 million tonnes per year as of 2016 to approximately 516 million tonnes per year across the Africa continent.
However, Africa’s average waste collection rate is approximately 55% of all the existing waste materials. Notably, more than 90% of Africa’s waste is disposed of at uncontrolled dumpsites and landfills, often followed by open burning. Most importantly, 19 of the world’s 50 biggest dumpsites are found in Africa and are mostly located in Sub-Saharan Africa. By composition, an average of approximately 13% of municipal solid waste generated in Africa is plastic, and 57% constitute organic waste.
The bulk of organic waste is currently being dumped in landfills. However, organic waste could provide significant socio-economic opportunities for African countries.
The emergence of recycling across the African continent is characterised by poverty, unemployment, and socio-economic needs driven by public and private sector design. For example, approximately 70–80% of the municipal solid waste generated in Africa is recyclable.
However, only 4% of municipal solid waste is currently recycled. Furthermore, informal waste pickers actively recover valuable resources from the waste at minimal compensation to municipalities and private sector companies. This means that approximately half of the waste material generated in Africa remains uncollected within Africa’s cities and towns, where it remains dumped on sidewalks, open fields, stormwater drains, and rivers.
Notably, the primary causes of inadequate waste disposal and management in Africa include weak strategic, institutional, and organisational structures. This is perpetrated by limited skills that are essential to waste material management; inadequate budgets; feeble legislation and lack of enforcement necessary for waste management, low public awareness, increasing corruption and conflict leading to political instability; and the lack of political will among several governments to deal with waste material disposal and management.
Traditionally, African countries have managed waste disposal in landfills, indiscriminate dumping, open burning, and recycling. Unfortunately, the projected increased levels of waste in Africa, exposure of the public to waste sites, most particularly the poorly managed waste sites, has raised serious health concerns across the African continent. This includes the fact that the dumped waste material may find its way into water bodies through leaching over time, sometimes into groundwater bodies, and thus causing water pollution.
Unfortunately, the end results of pollution have adverse effects on the environment, including animals and humans. Notably, plastics waste pollution, among other waste material disposals, have continuously and negatively impacted the reproduction efforts of animals and humans. For example, scientific studies have demonstrated that pollutants derived from chemicals and plastics are potentially introducing endocrine disruptors in humans and subsequently impairing brain development in developing foetuses and babies.
These endocrine disruptors are responsible for low sperm counts and infertility in males and miscarriages or defective births in females.
Notably, the link between reckless industrial practices such as the overproduction and disposal of plastics, and the consequent diseases, remain evident. Unfortunately, the lethargic regulatory systems suitable for environmental protection have perpetrated environmental pollution.
Regrettably, it has been estimated that deaths occurring in Africa because of outdoor air pollution have amplified by nearly 60% in the last two decades.
Furthermore, it has been estimated that six hundred thousand people die due to pollution across the African continent.[10] In addition, the World Bank estimated that the economic impact of air pollution in Africa in 2013 was approximately US$114 billion.
Remarkably, several African countries are progressively adopting more sustainable modes of waste disposal and management technologies through leveraging emerging waste recycling technologies. These countries are also adopting digital technologies that can be utilised to decrease unsustainable waste disposal across the African continent. For example, Ethiopia has predominately utilised the Koshe dump site as the only landfill in Addis Ababa.
However, in 2017, the Ethiopian government transformed this dumpsite into a waste-to-energy plant. This effectively transformed, re-purposed, and revolutionised the dumpsite into incinerating approximately 1,400 tonnes of waste materials daily towards generating electricity. Therefore, this accounted for approximately 80% of Addis Ababa’s rubbish re-purposed towards energy supply, with the city supplementing approximately 30% of household electricity. Notably, the operational activities of this plant met European air emission standards.
A Guest Editorial