Present Status of Environmentally Sound Management of Wastes in Africa

1. Present Status of Environmentally Sound Management of Wastes in Africa Patrick MWESIGYE Uganda Cleaner Production Centre John MBOGOMA Independent consultant Rene VAN BERKEL United Nations Industrial Development Organization

2. Background • A desk top review was undertaken to appraise the current status of environmentally sound management of wastes in Africa • Informed by: • National reviews in Egypt, Kenya and Zambia • Inputs from ad hoc expert group meeting • Further submissions from waste management experts • Put in context of international commitments under Agenda 21, JPoI and Multilateral Environmental Agreements • Undertaken for UNIDO and ECA in close cooperation with the Africa Roundtable on Sustainable Consumption and Production

3. Methodology • Review of existing policy and strategy documents • Analysis of waste generation data where available • Broad coverage • Municipal, industrial, commercial, construction and demolition, hazardous, medical, radio-active • Consultation of government and other stakeholders • Experience of the National Cleaner Production Centres • Limitations • No independent data collection or verification •  predominantly qualitative picture based on experts’ assessments

4. Regional Gaps/1 • Institutional and Organisational • Policy and Planning • No national policies for waste reduction at source • Trust of laws and regulations on collection and disposal of waste, not on recycling and recovery • Weak enforcement • Stakeholders • Limited involvement of national stakeholders, including private sector, community, and border controls • Capacity Building, Training and Information • Low human, institutional and financial capacity to develop and implement integrated waste management at all levels and all sectors of government, industry and community • Waste management ranked low compared to other national development goals and overall lacking awareness

5. Regional Gaps/2 • Institutional and Organisational/Ctd • Finance and cost recovery • General reluctance to pay for waste collection and disposal • High cost of appropriate equipment/technology for waste collection and management • Waste Characterisists • Information on types, sources, composition and volumes of various wastes is incomplete and often outdated

6. Regional Gaps/3 • Waste Management Practices • Generation • No incentives for source reduction and segregation • Collection • Efficiency and coverage of collections systems is low (estimated at ~ 40% in urban areas) • Transportation • Low efficiency due to limited availability of vehicles and lacking maintenance • High cost for local governments (up to ~30% of local government budget) • Recycling and Recovery • Lacking facilities for organic waste, plastics, etc • Random sorting and recovery by scavengers on streets and at dump sites • Land-filling • Most landfills do not meet basic environmental controls, and uncontrolled burning is common practice • Increasing demand for land fill space is not met • Cleaner Production • Proven potential to reduce waste generation from businesses and other organisations

7. Overall Situation • Waste management problems in Africa are varied and complex, facing infrastructure, technical, social/economic, organisational/management, regulatory and legal challenges • Waste is typically disposed off without consideration for environmental and human health impacts, leading to its accumulation in cities, towns and uncontrolled dumpsites • Co-disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous waste without segregation is common practice • Municipal Solid Waste Management has been intractable problem for long time and beyond the capacity of most municipal and state governments • Improper waste disposal in Africa has resulted in poor hygiene, lack of access to clean water and sanitation

8. Major Trends and Emerging Issues • Poor waste management aggravates the problems of generally low sanitation levels • Urbanisation is on the rise, and expected to continue, often without waste management planning and infrastructure • Waste management infrastructure largely non-existent in rural areas • Contributing to high health cost, poverty and urban migration • Gap between waste management policy and legislation is widening due to ongoing capacity constraints or non existence of suitable waste management facilities • Requires major investments and access to technical know how, for which means are far-fetched • Waste generation to increase significantly as result of industrialisation, urbanisation and modernisation of agriculture • Aggravating E-Waste problem due to growing use of ICT and rapid turn-over • Increasing complexity of waste as result of changing lifestyle and consumption patterns in particular of growing urban middle class

9. Conclusions/1 • Waste Reduction • Prevent and minimise waste and maximise reuse, recycling and use of environmentally sound alternative materials with participation of government authorities and all stakeholders • Many recycling initiatives • Paper, scrap metal, glass, plastics, C&D • Scavenging provides livelihood for urban poor • Smaller initiatives with organic waste • Compost, biogas, bio-ethanol • Some research on biodegradable materials but no commercialisation • NCPCs working with business to reduce waste • Declining availability of landfill space • Some policies to support development of recycling industry • Some bans on specific disposable products • Growing concerns on large volume mining waste and legacies

10. Conclusions/2 • Integrated Waste Management • Develop waste management systems and extend waste service coverage. Amongst others develop and promote integrated waste management solutions to minimise urban and industrial waste generation and promote recycling and reuse • Most countries have some waste legislation and several have started with integrated waste management • Slow progress in improving waste management systems and extending waste service coverage • Capacity, technical and financial constraints • Many countries have legislation for hazardous wastes • Limited management capacity  continued co-disposal • Almost exclusive reliance on landfills • Standards developed but most cannot meet these environmental and health risks and future liability • Some landfill gas collection (CDM) • Public Private partnerships are emerging and encouraged • Informal recovery by scavengers • Greater efficiency dependent on organisation and formalisation of recycling and waste management sectors

11. Conclusions/3 • Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEA) • Ratification and implementation of relevant international instruments on hazardous waste including Bamako Convention, 4th Lome Convention and Basel Convention and its protocol on liability and compensation for damage resulting from transboundary movement and disposal of waste • Most countries have ratified relevant international instruments and are at different stages with development and implementation of national action plans (Basel and Bamako) • Lacking implementation due to absence of financial instrument • Protocol on liability and compensation still outstanding • Most countries lack comprehensive inventories of hazardous waste and sites potentially contaminated through inappropriate disposal of hazardous waste

12. Conclusions/4 • Illegal Trafficking • Preventing international illegal trafficking of hazardous wastes and to prevent damage resulting from the trans-boundary movement of hazardous wastes in a manner consistent with obligations under relevant international instruments • Now controlled by Basel and related conventions which have been ratified and are being implemented • Need to strengthen border controls and involve revenue authorities • Growing concerns about imports of used consumer goods that contain hazardous materials • Cooperation • Global and regional cooperation, including exchange of information and experience and transfer of appropriate technologies to improve the management of (radio-active) wastes • Need to improve exchange of information, including volumes, best practices and storage methods (IAEA) • Need to prepare for greater use of nuclear energy and its wastes • Management of radio-active materials in mining is growing concern, as is the import of equipment containing radio-active materials

13. Conclusions/5 • Contaminated Sites • Support the clean up of sites contaminated as a result of all types of nuclear activity and to conduct health studies in the regions around those sites as appropriate with a view to identifying where health treatment may be needed and should be provided • Africa still lacks a comprehensive inventory of potentially contaminated sites • Sound Management of Radio-Active Wastes • Including: sound storage, transportation, trans-boundary movement and disposal of radioactive material guided by principles of Agenda 21; technical assistance to African countries on management and safe disposal; and identification of safety measures • Importance is widely acknowledged, but capacity remains still very low

14. Recommendations/1 • Waste Reduction • Policy, Planning, Legislation and Enforcement • Policies and strategies need to be strengthened and/or developed and enforced, addressing all waste streams, sources and recycling, recovery and disposal options • Stakeholder Participation • Integration and coordination needs to be achieved among sectors and levels of government and with stakeholders in private sector and civil society • Cleaner Production • Enhance capacity and create awareness on importance and benefits of Cleaner Production across Africa • Technologies • Accelerate the development and dissemination of appropriate technologies and practices for environmentally sound management of various waste streams

15. Recommendations/2 • Integrated Waste Management • Capacity Building and Training • Improve formal and informal training and learning • Strengthen capacities of responsible agencies • Public Awareness • Boost general awareness on impacts of waste on human health and environment • Finance and Cost Recovery • Charge for waste collection and encourage private sector and enable NGOs to initiate new projects • Data and Monitoring • Data on waste quantities and characteristics need to be improved to enable planning and investment and independently monitor and evaluate achievements

16. Recommendations/3 • Integrated Waste Management/ctd • Best Practices and Technologies • Improve collection and transportation systems for all waste streams • Encourage waste segregation at source and develop appropriate recycling systems at appropriate scales with private sector and civil society partners • Improve recovery in particular from organic wastes • Ensure adequate treatment of medical wastes • Change over to controlled landfill operations and avoid co-disposal of medical and hazardous waste

17. Recommendations/4 • Multilateral Environmental Agreements • Speed up ratification by all countries • Provide means of implementation, including financial instruments, in particular for Basel convention • Finalise agreements • Implementation of Bamako convention • Liability and Compensation Protocol • Complete inventories of hazardous wastes and contaminated sites

18. Recommendations/5 • Illegal Trafficking • Improve trans-border controls and policing • Strengthen controls on imports of used goods • Radio-Active Wastes • Improve exchange of best practice information • Strengthen planning and management capacities • Create capacity for environmentally sound management and storage • Identify contaminated sites and develop and implement remediation strategies

19. Implementation Challenges and Constraints • Creation of sufficient capacity for environmentally sound management, including where appropriate recovery and recycling, of various waste streams across Africa • Progress is constrained by access to finance and technical know how • Responsibility for waste management has been vested in municipalities which are ill-equipped. • Creates an impediment for private sector investment in waste management • Effective control over imports is needed to avoid entry of second hand goods and substandard products that contribute to rise in waste volumes • Implementation and enforcement of waste regulations and international conventions is severely constrained by lack of good governance and transparency • Inadequate or limited awareness and appreciation for best practices for environmentally sound management of wastes is a major constraint • Paradigm shift among communities and society at large is needed.

20. Lessons Learned/Best Practices • Involve private sector • Access to managerial and technical know how and finance • Focus on income generation • Job creation in waste collection, transport, recycling and recovery • Introduce refuse collection charges • Incentivise good waste management practices • Bolster practical and attitudinal change • Perceptions are changing, but pace is slow and not yet widespread • Prepare for new challenges • E-waste, radio-active wastes

21. Expectations from Africa • Support for transfer and dissemination of knowledge and technology and foster investment in best practices for environmentally sound management of waste • The scale of necessary investment for proper waste management and sanitation is beyond the capacity of African countries • Implementation of international agreements and assistance for building national institutional and human capacities for implementation and enforcement • Conclusion of negotiations and ratification of protocol on liability and compensation for damages under the Basel Convention • Support for inventorying of hazardous and radio-active wastes and sites contaminated by poor waste management • Assistance at level of raising awareness and cultural change for integrated waste management

22. Thank You Cleaner and Sustainable Production Unit Environmental Management Branch PO Box 300, A 1400 Vienna, Austria R.VanBerkel@unido.org www.unido.org/cp