Solid Waste Management in Africa: Governance Failure or Development Opportunity?

Abstract

Waste management is a social, economic, and environmental problem facing all African countries. If the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development is to be achieved, sustainable waste management approaches must be an environmental and public health imperative deserving political priority. Current reasons for the poor management of waste in Africa, include, amongst others, weak organizational structures; lack of appropriate skills; inadequate budgets; weak legislation; lack of enforcement; low public awareness; corruption, conflict; political instability; and lack of political will. At the heart of the problem, is a failure in governance. However, through these gaps, many social and technological innovations have emerged. Innovations that recognize the opportunity that waste provides as a secondary resource. Diverting waste away from dumpsites and landfills towards reuse, recycling and recovery can improve the livelihoods of thousands of informal waste reclaimers, while also creating new jobs and business opportunities for the continent. Reintroducing secondary resources such as polymer, fiber, metals and nutrients back into local value chains has the potential to strengthen manufacturing economies and reduce the economic burden on product imports. Bringing waste under control in Africa and unlocking the opportunities that "waste" provides as "resource" will require immediate intervention by government, business and civil society.

Raising Awareness on Solid Waste Management through Formal Education for Sustainability: A Developing Countries Evidence Review

“…Poor management of waste practice causes blocked drains, floods, transmitted infections via the breeding of vectors, and escalates respiratory issues through floating particles that result from the burning of waste [28,30]. In most studies reviewed, it has been acknowledged that rapid population growth (urbanization), inadequate human resources, lack of facilities such as vehicles and infrastructure, improper route planning, weak organizational structure, insufficient budget, weak legislation, lack of enforcement, low public awareness, corruption, conflict, political instability, and lack of political well [20,22,31], as well as other activities resulting from lack of government regulation, are the underlying problems affecting SWM in most developing countries. The main difficulty facing proper management of SWM is that one-third to two-thirds of SW generated is not collected [31][32][33].…”

“…In most studies reviewed, it has been acknowledged that rapid population growth (urbanization), inadequate human resources, lack of facilities such as vehicles and infrastructure, improper route planning, weak organizational structure, insufficient budget, weak legislation, lack of enforcement, low public awareness, corruption, conflict, political instability, and lack of political well [20,22,31], as well as other activities resulting from lack of government regulation, are the underlying problems affecting SWM in most developing countries. The main difficulty facing proper management of SWM is that one-third to two-thirds of SW generated is not collected [31][32][33]. This amount of uncollected waste pollutes the soil, water, and atmosphere, and the negative impact of the pollutants represent a significant health risk to animals, plants, and the human population [34].…”

Biowastes as a Potential Energy Source in Africa

“…Fewer amounts of plastics and metals indicate the applicability of low technologies such as anaerobic digestion can be utilized since organic parts are easily degradable. Although of high energy potential from these biodegradable organic waste, MSW remains largely an untapped resource for the continent [5]. Therefore, good policy, investment, and technology are important factor to utilize this energy.…”

“…Among the challenges that hinder biowastes utilization are poor management, weak legislation, lack of enforcement, low public awareness, corruption, conflict and political instability. While the amount of waste produced in Africa is minimal in comparison to developed nations, waste mismanagement in Africa is already having an impact on human and environmental health [5]. It is estimated that an additional USD$8 billion could be injected into the African economy each year by just diverting waste away from dumpsites or landfills for reuse, recycling, and recovery [5].…”

Properties of Mosquito Repellent-Plasticized Poly(lactic acid) Strands

“…The volumes of waste generated in Africa, compared to developed regions, are relatively small. Nevertheless, the mismanagement of waste in Africa is already impacting human and environmental health [ 5 ]. Therefore, the present study and other associated investigations [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ] opted to investigate poly(lactic acid) as an alternative polymer matrix for repellent incorporation.…”