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Figure 1: Pile of PET to be recycled into pellets at AngolaRecicla © UNDP Angola
Trash: where are you coming from and where are you going?
If you were, perhaps, told that every day you produce almost 1 kilogram of trash, would you believe it? Well, in a country like Angola, with just over 30 million inhabitants, the capital city, Luanda, sadly relies only on one single sanitary landfill, Mulenvos, a monthly entry point for more than two hundred thousand tons of waste collected by the waste operations. (Figure 1). Considering the fact that we are dealing with the most populated city in the country, with approximately 8 million people, according to statistics, it’s average citizen is estimated to produce just over 0.78 kg every day.
This data offers some questions: is all the trash produced by the 28% of the population being collected and sent to the landfill? If not, where does it go then? And why cannot we have this trash going to the landfill with previous segregation?
There are several question marks! Initiating a conversation on Urban Solid Waste Management (USWM) in Angola, as in many other countries, leads us to look at the current situation not only as an environmental issue but also as a social one.
Rapid urbanization, growing neighborhoods with a lack of basic services and unplanned internal migration flows, have been challenging the public administration, which has a responsibility to deal with this constantly changing scenario. Without data to help confirm that all the waste generated reaches the landfill, another big question arises: who is accountable for the USWM?
Despite advances in waste collection and the growth, although informal, of waste recycling circuits, USWM in Angola still has a long way to go until it is fully effective. Unfortunately, until now, the only official destination for the disposal of waste is the Landfill of Mulenvos and there has not yet been established a selective collection system that could work properly.
Accountability for USWM must be discussed within the legal framework for the environment, however, the social component must also be analyzed. For example, there is a growing number of informal waste pickers who put their health at risk on a daily basis while exploring containers looking for a source of income for survival. There is also an economic component regarding the value of waste (weight per kilogram decided only by buyers/customers) and the recycling business that has gradually been gaining more space in the country, especially in the capital.
Figure 2: Quantity of waste received monthly at the Mulenvos Landfill during 2018. (Source: Agência Nacional de Resíduos)
Trash: more than an environmental issue
Without a shadow of a doubt, when dealing with USWM, we are directly addressing issues such as socio-environmental education, selective collection, recycling, transport and disposal, among others.
Solving environmental issues associated with waste management is not just about regulating sources that generate waste, closing dumps or creating more landfills, which is not actually one of the most sustainable or effective ways of dealing with waste. Selective collection and recycling present more optimistic prognostics and should be considered as viable options to address this issue.
Social movements and environmental initiatives have grown more and more in the country, defending the need to implement selective collection, underlining the role of waste pickers, raising the need for environmental education and civic awareness, and highlighting the role of citizen as a fundamental part of the approach.
Since traditional practices (generating source and disposal site) have only partially addressed the problem of waste, there is a need to consider the other aspects that are: social, economic, environmental and health. Would you not agree?
Thus, in countries like Mozambique there are now conversations about integrated solid waste management. This new form of solid waste management encompasses the complete cycle of its production, consumption, disposal as well as its destination. This model was in line with the United Nations' 21 Agenda, which emphasized the transformation of the production and consumption base considering the 3Rs of sustainability: reduce, reuse and recycle.
Waste: experiencing an integrated management
The selective collection of recyclable materials and recycling helps to promote the reduction of waste and to rationalize its disposal, contributing directly to urban sustainability, environmental and human health and to the definition of the role of waste pickers in this system. However, there are still other important factors, such as the accountability of companies and medium and large waste producers in relation to the final destination of the waste they produce, the accountability for promoting selective collection projects by the municipal administrations as well as the accountability of the provincial governments on the management of collection services.
In this case, we are facing a challenging situation: how to influence the private sector to be more accountable for the waste while, at the same time, asking for more action by the public sector in the sake of collective interests? Dealing with this issue opens several doors for the formulation of policies and public initiatives focused on reducing impacts on the environment, naturally promoting social inclusion and generating income for all parties involved in the sector. The integrated management of solid waste offers a structural matrix capable of responding not only to environmental problems, but also to social ones.
The 2012 National Strategic Plan for Urban Waste Management (PESGRU) suggests strategic lines for USWM, emphasizing its contribution to the quality of life of the population, reducing risks to public health and generating new economic activities and new jobs. On the other hand, it is necessary to emphasize that environmental education is extremely relevant, since its absence ends up making the change of habits of the population regarding the garbage more difficult.
To summarize, one of the suggestions that has been discussed is to define the accountabilities of generators and public authorities, and thy could be such as a) waste generator must separate its waste in advance, facilitating the selective collection by the operators of materials properly segregated and b) the public authority, on its own initiative or by licensing, can make sure that solid waste has proper recognition, separation, treatment and disposal destination.
It is vital that there is an integrated waste management understood by all actors, as it is not only important to have a structure provided by the government, it is also essential that the private sector is part of the solution and that the community is prepared to act within this management. In this context, a new systemic approach must be set in motion, composed of several specific actions operating simultaneously and articulated by different actors with different responsibilities but with a common objective.
