COP27: Global initiative “50 by 2050” targets waste colonialism in fight against Africa pollution

14 Nov 2022 --- The Egyptian government is launching a global waste initiative dubbed “50 by 2050” that aims to ensure at least half of all African waste is treated and recycled before 2050. Announced at the COP27 climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, proponents say the ambitious targets could reduce the “waste colonialism” plaguing African countries.

The Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) held a press conference with Friends of the Earth Nigeria to provide civil society’s perspective on the goals. 

Ana Le Rocha, executive director of Tanzania-based zero waste organization Nipe Fagio, tells PackagingInsights: “The waste crisis faced by Africa is not generated by African models but by a consequence of various kinds of colonialism.” 

“African countries also have very limited available funds to deal with the waste crisis and it ends up impacting the most vulnerable populations beyond any acceptable limit.” 

Recognizing the importance of informal waste pickers is essential to combatting pollution in Africa, says GAIA.To circularize African economies, global leaders must recognize the disparate and often undeveloped waste systems in each of the continent’s 54 countries, speakers at the conference asserted. This will also mean implementing tougher regulations abroad and restricting the flow of waste from foreign nations in the global north. 

Decolonizing packaging waste 
According to Niven Reddy, regional coordinator for GAIA Africa Waste, pollution and the environmental and human health harms it creates are not only generated in Africa. 

“Large amounts of waste are created through non-recyclable packaging coming from companies in the global north. They produce materials that cannot be recycled in places lacking the necessary waste management infrastructure.” 

“Global leaders can support Africa by bringing an end to waste colonialism, both by creating policies to reduce single-use plastic marketed in the global south and preventing the transfer trade of waste from the global north to the south. If a country cannot manage its own waste, it shouldn’t be generating it,” he says. 

Recently, a cross-party group of British MPs called on the UK government to ban all plastic waste exports by 2028. The calls followed a committee report showing that most of the country’s waste is sent to nations like Turkey, where a lack of infrastructure leads to dangerous landfilling and incineration practices.  

Ending waste exports from the global north would relieve the burden on undeveloped African waste infrastructure.Legal waste exportation also opens the doors for illicit waste trafficking. Handlers can smuggle illegal forms of toxic waste inside authorized shipping containers. The European Anti-Fraud Office estimates illegal waste trafficking to be worth over US$10 billion annually – more than the human trafficking trade. 

Tackling African waste 
While achieving a 50% recycling and treatment target throughout Africa by 2050 is challenging, proponents say it can be made possible if legislators recognize the importance of the waste picker economy. 

“Achieving the goals of 2050 can be done by recognizing that we need to embrace the different starting points of each country in Africa and that improving recycling rates must be centered around waste picker integration,” says Reddy. 

Many workers throughout the continent rely on informal waste collection labor to survive. This job market should be protected and improved before novel solutions like advanced recycling and incineration projects. 

“The initiative must focus on job-generating and inclusive solutions, discarding industry-led initiatives like incineration and chemical recycling and ensuring that waste pickers and waste cooperatives are formative parts of the models to be adopted,” says Le Rocha.

“Overall, this initiative is very ambitious, and even if the goals aren’t necessarily met, adopting the right types of zero waste systems at this stage can set us on the correct path and will be highly beneficial for African societies even beyond the year 2050,” concludes Reddy. 

By Louis Gore-Langton