Sustainability in Danger! Urban Africa is Seriously Behind in Achieving Sustainable Solid Waste Management. The Situation is Fast Worsening.

The World Bank predicts that by 2050, waste generation in Africa will increase by 70 percent of the waste generation in 2018. This is not good for a continent that is already over whelming with the situation and is not yet taking decisive action to shift from the refuse collection and disposal model that is the source of the problem to integrated solid waste management which the World Bank and the UN are encouraging. Even many African governments have integrated solid waste management as either a policy or national strategy but most are stuck when it comes to full-throttle implementation.

Many municipal authorities, when they talk about solid waste management talk about financial challenges and lack of equipment. They believe the solution to their problem is more financial resources to buy solid waste management assets such as compactors (some use tractors and carts), bins and waste disposal management equipment such as front-end loaders and douzers. They believe they will tame the solid waste management that way. Many other stakeholders also do not have a complete and holistic solution.

Integrated Solid Waste Management is The Sustainable Solution to Solid Waste Management

Integrated solid waste management is the sustainable solution to solid waste management challenges. It dramatically reduces the overall solid waste management costs including the greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change. Solid waste is the fourth main driver of climate change. This means that solid waste management is not just a service delivery issue but also a sustainable development issue. Solid waste management is directly linked more than seven if the 17 Un sustainable development goals.

Organic Waste Management

As much as 60 to 70 percent of domestic solid waste that is produced in African cities and towns is organic and hence biodegradable. This same organic waste also contributes emissions in the process of decomposition. At the same time, transporting this waste long distances to disposal site imposed a huge financial cost to councils and municipalities when much of this organic waste can be reduced or utilised close to where it is generated or stored before long haul transport to a disposal site.

In many cities, there are some different kinds of waste recycling activities taking place and hence reducing the waste disposed. But these activities are spontaneous and are poorly managed. There are no records of who is doing what, where and how. There are also no records of waste handled by non-municipal players. This is why integrated solid waste management is critical.

Capacity and Capability Issues

While at Government level there is interest in integrated solid waste management, most country struggle from lack of expertise to lead the countries and their cities and towns towards sustainable integrated solid waste management operations. Solid waste management has become a fully fledged discipline with its own skills. Many experts who get into solid waste management have a general environmental or engineering academic background, but they have specialised training in integrated solid waste management. They may have have read about integrated solid waste management but the knowledge is not enough to equip someone with all the skills one needs to lead the transition from refuse collection and disposal to fully integrated solid waste management in a city and the country. Many decision-makers ignore this reality.

Lack of Interest and Push

In many cities and towns, solid waste management is not a priority for municipal authorities. They would rather pay attention to water and other services.

Many governments also do not push the municipal authorities hard enough to follow and implement government policy. In many countries, including integrated solid waste management but few cities and towns follow through with implementation. Without serious follow through, solid waste management challenges will worsen until they are out of control as is the case of Harare City in Zimbabwe where the government declared a state of disaster.

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?Simon Bere, 2024