Carbon emissions reduction strategies in Africa from improved waste management: A review R. Couth, C. Trois * University of KwaZulu-Natal, CRECHE, School of Civil Engineering, Survey and Construction, Durban 4041, South Africa article info Article history: Received 11 January 2010 Accepted 9 April 2010 Available online 7 May 2010 abstract The paper summarises a literature review into waste management practices across Africa as part of a study to assess methods to reduce carbon emissions. Research shows that the average organic content for urban Municipal Solid Waste in Africa is around 56% and its degradation is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. The paper concludes that the most practical and economic way to manage waste in the majority of urban communities in Africa and therefore reduce carbon emissions is to sepa- rate waste at collection points to remove dry recyclables by door to door collection, compost the remain- ing biogenic carbon waste in windrows, using the maturated compost as a substitute fertilizer and dispose the remaining fossil carbon waste in controlled landfills. Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction This review presents a preliminary assessment of carbon emis- sions reductions in Africa from Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) man- agement. Main objectives of this study were to provide a clear understanding of emission reductions (ERs) that can be gained by the optimisation of waste management strategies and to fill the important knowledge gap on the impact of carbon emissions due to solid waste disposal across Africa. Studies to date have shown that there is little comprehensive and reliable data on waste man- agement in Africa (Fricke et al., 2007). This study seeks to provide a basis for the design of a protocol of best practice for Municipalities for the implementation of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects. Methane produced at solid waste landfill sites contributes approximately 3–4% to the annual global anthropogenic green- house gas (GHG) emissions (Jeon et al., 2007). A broad range of estimates has been made for GHG emissions from landfills (Bogner et al., 2004). However, this study aims to go one step further by assessing carbon emissions for all waste management activities and ultimately developing a philosophy that promotes sustained emissions reduction. The study was initiated with questionnaires sent to 26 of the 61 territories in Africa, but only six countries have provided valid information to date (Couth and Trois, 2009a). It was concluded that the response rate was reasonable due to a lack of data, rather than a lack of interest. The findings demonstrate the lack of reliable re- corded and published data on waste management in Africa, with a clear divide between North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa (Couth and Trois, 2009b). This preliminary study concluded that the scarce data on carbon emissions from waste management in Africa is likely to represent a high percentage of carbon emissions in urban areas. This review analyses available data and knowledge on waste management in Africa with respect to carbon emissions production or reduction potentials, highlights existing constraints/improve- ments and attempts to make recommendations for implementa- tion of sustainable and appropriate strategies. 2. Waste management practice in Africa 2.1. Introduction Some countries in Africa have set ambitious targets in the at- tempt to apply the waste management hierarchy and reduce car- bon emissions. For example, the Polokwane Declaration in 2001 in South Africa set targets of 50% reduction in waste to landfill by 2012 with a full zero waste plan to be in place by 2022 (DWAF, 2001). Progress made so far to meet those objectives has not been very encouraging as targets are far too ambitious and insignificant financial resources have been applied at municipal level. These conditions are common in many African countries. There is a general migration of population from the countryside to urban areas throughout Africa; as a consequence, waste man- agement practices differ vastly between rural and urban areas and within the latter between suburban and peri-urban areas (gen- erally large settlements adjoining urban areas and lacking most infrastructures). For Africa, peri-urban is defined as locations with 250–1000 persons per km 2 with peaks for cities like Nairobi where the population density exceeds 1250 people per km 2 (one person per 8 m 2 )(Muniafa and Otiato, 2008). 0956-053X/$ - see front matter Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2010.04.013 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +27 031 2603065/55; fax: +27 031 2601411. E-mail address: troisc@ukzn.ac.za (C. Trois). Waste Management 30 (2010) 2336–2346 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Waste Management journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/wasman