The Covid-19 pandemic affirms the need not just for adequate public health care services, but also the many other services that are essential to keep society running and maintain a sustainable environment.
Waste management is one such service: if not properly managed, waste can pollute our waters, soils and air. This is the case for large parts of Africa, where up to 45 per cent of the generated waste is simply not collected. Privatisation efforts contribute to a general poor waste service provision. To maximise profit, private providers tend to exclude poorer or rural areas.
Seeking to solve these problems, communities across the continent have developed waste management solutions specifically tailored to meet local and regional needs. In the Egyptian cities of Cairo, Alexandra, and Giza, local authorities, community members and workers have brought waste services back under public control and with it, ended years of inefficient waste management.
Other places are re-instating traditional waste management solutions to rid themselves of organic waste.
