- Green Rising
- Posts
- Why Africa’s best climate opportunities can be found in the unlikeliest places
Why Africa’s best climate opportunities can be found in the unlikeliest places
Renewable energy is not limited to natural sources such as wind and solar. The continent’s cities produce plenty more… in the form of waste
Green Rising
February 29, 2024
Hello – one wag at the UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi this week succinctly observed: “The unsexy will inherit the earth.”
Few entrepreneurs & investors have noticed. Waste management is rarely the first choice of opportunity-seekers. Many are eyeballing “EV” or carbon credits.
But less sexy fruits often hang lower. Landfills contain climate-damaging methane… which happens to be an exploitable source of immense energy.
There are role models. The US waste industry turns over $700 billion a year with an average operating profit of 25%, while reducing emissions.
⏳ Today’s reading time: 4 mins
LOGISTICS UPDATE | Thursday 29 February
🌳 Countdown: The UN Environment Assembly is closing tomorrow
📚 Report: Investigating the association between climate and HIV
🏆 Agenda: The Margaret Awards ceremony will take place on 7 March
AND FYI…
🥬 Job: Apollo Agriculture seeks a product manager (Amst-Nbo)
🗃️ Other report: Showcasing sustainable business evolution by BIMG
Waste management is one of the largest unclaimed opportunities for green entrepreneurs in Africa.
The benefits were highlighted at the launch of UNEP's Global Waste Management Outlook at the UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi this week.
The chance: Waste management strategies could inject an additional $8 billion annually into Africa's economy, fostering growth and jobs, says the UN.
Building successful waste-tech companies is aided by a lack of competition. The sector is overlooked by most mainstream operators.
Power potential: The US already generates renewable energy from waste at more than 2,000 sites.
At full scale, the sector’s benefit could eventually be equivalent to removing all American commuter vehicles from the roads.
Why it matters: Landfills generate methane, which is 80 times worse per tonne for the climate than carbon.
The pioneers: A few African startups in the waste sectors are pursuing the opportunity.
Mr Green Africa targets the informal plastic recycling sector in East Africa.
Taka Taka Solutions manages 60 tons of Nairobi rubbish daily, recycling 95% of it.
Vicfold Recyclers, established in 2016 in Nigeria, works with university campuses.
Bekia, an Egyptian startup launched in 2017, exchanges household waste for points, redeemable for various goods and services.
The backers: Most progress is due to government support rather than private investment.
Bans on single-use plastics in 30 African countries reduced pollution, setting a precedent for effective waste management policies.
Senegal, Ghana and others have targeted sanitation and collection campaigns.
Kenya introduced the concept of “producer responsibility”, holding manufacturers accountable for waste management.
Regulated industry: Every new government policy tends to create opportunities for someone to be paid to implement or comply with the rules.
The African waste management market is estimated at $22 billion in 2024, projected to reach $28 billion by 2029.
Interested outside parties include the IKEA Foundation and the IFC.
Catch up quick: The underlying reason for tackling waste is climate change. Methane from human waste is equivalent to more than 10% of the continent's CO2 emissions.
Africa releases 4.7 million tonnes of methane annually from open dumps and landfills, equivalent to 160 million tonnes of CO2.
Burning waste contributes another 1.2 million tonnes of black carbon emissions yearly, affecting air quality and climate patterns.
Between the lines: There are also immediate health benefits from tackling waste disposal.
Improper landfills can contaminate water sources, such as at Ghana's Agbogbloshie site.
The solutions: No single technology can solve the waste problem. But the way forward is clear.
The World Bank says that embracing circular economy principles could reduce plastic waste by 40% to 50% by 2026.
Large-scale composting facilities and e-waste recycling plants offer avenues for organic waste utilisation and resource recovery.
Zoom out: The amount of waste in Africa is already substantial.
The average African generates 0.45 kg per day, lower than the global average at 0.75kg
The driver: Urbanisation and population growth lead to increasing waste piles in cities lacking infrastructure and investment.
Large-scale recycling and recovery technology could cost up to $42 billion in the short term, says the UN.
What’s next: African waste volume is estimated to triple from 174 million tonnes per year in 2016 to around 516 million tonnes by 2050.
Only a combination of small-scale community-driven initiatives and large-scale public-private ventures can tackle waste effectively.
(i) Organic waste including food makes up at least 57% of the total and generates harmful methane gas in landfills.
(ii) Construction waste (10-20%), mostly debris, also ends up in landfills and creates dust pollution.
(iii) Plastic waste (13%) litters land and sea; only 4% is recycled currently.
(iv) E-waste (1-2%) results from discarded devices and can leach into rivers from ill-run scrapyards.
(v) Textile waste (<1%) up to four fifths of second-hand clothing imported into Africa is unusable and discarded rather than sold.
(vi) Vehicle waste (<1%) is less of a problem than many assume since even the oldest cars tend to be cannibalised to exhaustion rather than dumped.
