Future Perfect

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Advancing the green economy in

solid waste management across

the Middle East and North Africa

Joy Jadam, Technical coordinator and Sherif Arif, Consultant, SWEEP-Net

aste management is one of the main sectors consid-

ered in a green economy, where ‘greening the waste

sector’ means shifting from conventional to solid

waste management (SWM) methods of collection, treatment

and disposal, towards achieving the 4Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle

and recover) so that waste is transformed from a liability to an

asset, generating both economic and environmental benefits.

Despite worldwide advances in SWM during past decades, the

Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region still suffers unsus-

tainable waste management practices, including open dumping,

waste burning and mixing hazardous waste with municipal waste.

Economically, this is exacerbated by low levels of waste reduction,

recycling and material recovery that includes separation at the

source and composting.

Given these circumstances and a crucial need to improve the sector, in

2009 the Regional Solid Waste Exchange of Information and Expertise

Network (SWEEP-Net) was established. Its general objective is to

advance sustainable SWM in the political agenda of partner countries

and to set up a common regional platform for technical

assistance, capacity-building and exchange of best prac-

tices, expertise and experiences in the field of SWM. The

current partners include Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon,

Mauritania, Morocco, Palestinian Territory, Syria, Tunisia

and Yemen.

How far from changing to a greener waste sector

are the SWEEP-Net partner countries?

Challenges

Greening the municipal waste sector in MENA is still

in its early years, as governments pay little atten-

tion to the 4Rs, lack the political will to change and

are without the proper institutional, legal, financial

and technical structures for effective SWM, let alone

greening the waste sector. If not adequately addressed,

these factors put SWEEP-Net partner countries at a

competitive and technical disadvantage to other

MENA nations. With the expected population growth,

partners will be faced with a number of challenges,

including an increased impact on public health due

to unsanitary waste disposal, increased pressure on

natural resources, contribution to climate change and

more complex SWM requirements, along with costs

due to waste composition changes, such as e-waste.

The World Bank’s Mediterranean Environmental

Technical Assistance programme has estimated that

the cost of environmental degradation due to poor

municipal SWM ranges from 0.2 per cent to 0.5 per

cent per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

This situation worsened in the aftermath of the Arab

Spring, when many regional investments were discon-

tinued or suspended, including those in SWM. The

revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen, although

laudable for seeking democracy, social equity, freedom

and employment, contributed to the downturn of

economic growth, from about 3.2 per cent of GDP

in 2010 to 2.1 per cent in 2011, leading to higher

unemployment in many sectors.

During and after the

revolution, municipal waste was left to accumulate on

the streets and waste workers went on strike in many

countries, demanding formal recognition of their

status and improved economic and social benefits,

issues being addressed by many governments.

nvironment

air

water

oceans

climate

change

The cash value of waste is mostly appreciated by the informal sector, who collect,

recover, reuse and sell waste materials

Image: GIZ – Egypt