Burning waste must end: African leaders look to recycling for better health and value
WHEN African environment ministers met in Senegal in mid-September, they made one of the most important decisions in the history of waste management in Africa. The ministers laid the foundation to end the open dumping and burning of waste. Putting this decision into action will have multiple economic, environmental and social implications. It could save millions of lives on the continent. Author DESTA MEBRATU, Professor and United Nations High Level Champions (UNHLC) Lead on Waste, Stellenbosch University One hundred and eighty million tons of waste, about 9% of the global total, was generated in sub-Saharan Africa in 2016. Only about…