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“Waste not, want not.” This old saying rings so true today, as global leaders and local communities alike increasingly call for a fix for the so-called “throwaway culture.” But beyond individuals and households, waste also represents a broader challenge that affects human health and livelihoods, the environment, and prosperity.*
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2.2 billion tons |
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According to the World Bank, cities around the world are expected to produce 2.2 billion tons of solid waste annually by 2025, enough to equal the weight of one of the Great Pyramids of Giza...every day. Plastics pose a heightening threat to the environment, public health, food supplies and more. They particularly affect the world’s freshwater systems and marine resources. ‘The East Asia and Pacific region currently generates most of the world’s waste at 23 percent. And although they only account for 16 percent of the world’s population, high-income countries combined are generating over one-third (34 percent) of the world’s waste. The fastest-growing regions are Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, where total waste generation is expected to triple and double by 2050 respectively, making up 35 percent of the world’s waste.’
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KEY CONCLUSIONS
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A new breed of forward-thinking philanthropists and investors are applying business tools to address issues of solid-waste management while putting together actionable plans for employment. They are finding comprehensive and inclusive solutions to find hopeful opportunities in the present tragedy.
The story of the Future Africa Foundation in the Ivory Coast arose from a personal and emotional experience of its founder, Charles Kie. One day Kie followed a garbage truck into a camp where squatters survived by scavenging and sorting garbage for recycling. Families lived dangerously close to an open landfill, many afflicted with poor health and without resources to send their children to school.
This experience led Kie to take action. Registered in 2014, the Future Africa Foundation has a dual focus on education and the environment. It aims to give underprivileged children access to education and, in parallel, increase environmental awareness. As a first step, Africa Hope rehabilitated a school near a shanty town bordering a garbage dump. For the first time in the Ivory Coast, electronic tablets offered children access to digital learning. In addition, the foundation initiated after-school activities to increase children’s environmental awareness.
The Ivory Coast suffers from a chronic lack of classrooms. UNICEF reports that 1.6 million of the nation’s children do not go to school, with insufficient classrooms being a main obstacle. Future Africa Foundation partnered with UNICEF to build classrooms with environmentally-friendly materials. According to UNICEF, of the 288 tons of plastic waste produced daily in Abidjan, only 5 percent is recycled. The adverse effects of poor waste management policies are seen in the health of adults and children alike. Sixty percent of malaria cases, diarrhea and pneumonia in children result from defaults in the waste management system.
UNICEF Côte d’Ivoire partnered with Conceptos Plastico, a Columbian social enterprise, to create blocks from plastic trash to be used in the construction of classrooms. Since most garbage collection is done by women, efforts are underway to create a recycling market led by women. Women are trained in the sorting, reselling and management of waste materials.
As a relatively new entity, the Future Africa Foundation continues to grapple with the challenges of stakeholder alignment and support from public authorities. Various approaches to using garbage as a source of energy, employment creation and development are being explored. All of these will require partnerships with like-minded entities and, ultimately, the government.
We must work to restore dignity to the women who play such an important role in the waste-recycling process.
The story of the Future Africa Foundation in the Ivory Coast arose from a personal and emotional experience of its founder, Charles Kie. One day Kie followed a garbage truck into a camp where squatters survived by scavenging and sorting garbage for recycling. Families lived dangerously close to an open landfill, many afflicted with poor health and without resources to send their children to school.
This experience led Kie to take action. Registered in 2014, the Future Africa Foundation has a dual focus on education and the environment. It aims to give underprivileged children access to education and, in parallel, increase environmental awareness. As a first step, Africa Hope rehabilitated a school near a shanty town bordering a garbage dump. For the first time in the Ivory Coast, electronic tablets offered children access to digital learning. In addition, the foundation initiated after-school activities to increase children’s environmental awareness.
The Ivory Coast suffers from a chronic lack of classrooms. UNICEF reports that 1.6 million of the nation’s children do not go to school, with insufficient classrooms being a main obstacle. Future Africa Foundation partnered with UNICEF to build classrooms with environmentally-friendly materials. According to UNICEF, of the 288 tons of plastic waste produced daily in Abidjan, only 5 percent is recycled. The adverse effects of poor waste management policies are seen in the health of adults and children alike. Sixty percent of malaria cases, diarrhea and pneumonia in children result from defaults in the waste management system.
UNICEF Côte d’Ivoire partnered with Conceptos Plastico, a Columbian social enterprise, to create blocks from plastic trash to be used in the construction of classrooms. Since most garbage collection is done by women, efforts are underway to create a recycling market led by women. Women are trained in the sorting, reselling and management of waste materials.
As a relatively new entity, the Future Africa Foundation continues to grapple with the challenges of stakeholder alignment and support from public authorities. Various approaches to using garbage as a source of energy, employment creation and development are being explored. All of these will require partnerships with like-minded entities and, ultimately, the government.
We must work to restore dignity to the women who play such an important role in the waste-recycling process.
*‘What a Waste: An Updated Look into the Future of Solid Waste Management’. World Bank website, 20 September 2018, https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/immersive-story/2018/09/20/what-a-waste-an-updated-look-into-the-future-ofsolid-waste-management