Barriers and Challenges to Waste Management Hindering the Circular Economy in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

More and more, waste generated in most parts of the Western world has been recycled and transformed into new circularity products. However, managing waste within Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), such as in Ghana, has become a challenge due to the continued practice of the old traditional linear waste economy, that is, the taking, making and disposing methods of management, representing a threat to global environmental sustainability. Despite the need to revise current linear waste management (WM) in order to turn to the circular economy (CE) model, which consists of the concept of renew, remake and share, to advance sustainable development, a number of factors restrict the CE realization in practice, specifically in developing countries. An integrative methodology was used in this article to identify some of the challenges that hinder the achievement of CE in SSA countries. The results revealed the absence of educational programs and public awareness of waste management activities. The findings also highlight the lack of political will, funding and national policies on WM as some of the most significant issues. The study contributes to further encouraging policymakers and policy implementers, entrepreneurs and relevant interested groups to commit resources to sustainable WM services aiming to advancing CE in SSA countries.

Soil pollution and agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa: State of the knowledge and remediation technologies

“…The current quantity of wastes generated in SSA remains proportionally small when compared to that generated by the developed regions of the world, although SSA is forecast to become the global giant in terms of total waste generation if current trends remain uninterrupted (7). In 2016, for example, Africa generated around 174 million tons of wastes and that figure is expected to reach 244 million tons per year as early as 2025 (7,8). Estimates by the World Bank suggest that waste generation in the SSA will triple by the year 2050 (9).…”

“…Organic wastes constitute the bulk (57%) of total wastes produced in the SSA with the rest being plastic (13%), metal (4%), paper (9%), glass (4%) and others (13%) (7: 8). A greater part of these wastes is attributable to both population growth and industrialization (8)(9)(10)(11). Consequently, contaminants in the form of gaseous emissions, liquid and solid wastes have ended up in land resources including surface and underground waters, the soils, and sediments mainly due to less stringent regulations overseeing management of wastes in SSA countries.…”

Chemical characteristics of bottom ash from biomedical waste incinerators in Ghana

“…This could adversely affect the environment and public health through uncontrollable disposals, like dumping in the open space and pit burning (Debrah et al, 2021a , b , c ; Debrah et al, 2022a , b , c , d , e , f ; Leal Filho et al, 2022a ), so common in Africa. The improper handling of BMW has hindered achieving of some of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in most developing countries, specifically good health and well-being (SDG3), clean water and sanitation (SDG6) and climate action (SDG13) (Leal Filho et al, 2022b , c ).…”

“…Instead, most countries have opted for the most acceptable alternative available technology to handle BMW, such as microwave, plasma pyrolysis and ionized autoclave, with minimum environmental and fewer health issues (Dharmaraj et al, 2021 ; Xu et al, 2020 ; Zhao et al, 2021 ; Zimmermann, 2018 ), representing less threat to the environment and human health (Zhao et al, 2021 ). In developing countries, especially in SSA, these alternative technologies to handle BMW are rare due to financial implications associated with its purchasing and management (Leal Filho et al 2022d ; Dinis et al, 2022 ; Debrah et al, 2022a ). Although current modern incinerators operate within a temperature range of 850–1200 °C, BA containing metals that are non-biodegradable affects the entire ecosystem and human health (Dwivedi et al, 2019 ; Premkumar et al, 2018 ; Wei et al, 2021 ).…”

Municipal Solid Waste Collection and Haulage Modeling Design for Lahore, Pakistan: Transition toward Sustainability and Circular Economy

“…Therefore, involving the private sector in waste treatment and disposal functions based on the PPP modality is more relevant for enhancing the local capacity for environmental sustainability [42,43]. These interventions will also help upgrade the linear waste economy to a circular economy in the country [44].…”