Reducing Methane Emissions from Africa’s Waste Sector through Enhanced Waste Practices

This research paper examines the waste management crisis in Africa, highlighting how inadequate infrastructure leads to significant methane and black carbon emissions. It emphasizes the health risks to women and children from open burning and the under-utilization of informal waste workers. The paper advocates for a circular economy approach to reduce global costs and environmental impact, noting that Africa's waste generation is expected to double by 2050.

• Poor waste management in Africa, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, leads to uncontrolled disposal and open burning, which release methane and black carbon. Methane has a warming potential 25 times greater than carbon dioxide over 100 years and is produced via anaerobic decomposition of organic waste in landfills or open dumps.
• Open waste burning in Africa produces black carbon, a pollutant that absorbs sunlight and contributes to global warming. This practice poses disproportionate health risks to women and children; toxic pollutants accumulate in women's tissues due to higher body fat content and are passed to infants during breastfeeding.
• Africa faces specific waste challenges, including a projected doubling of waste generation by 2050. While Asia has a higher total volume of open waste burning, the African continent has the highest per capita contributions to the practice.
• Informal waste workers handle a substantial portion of Africa's waste but are often excluded from policy decisions and exposed to hazardous conditions, such as methane gas and toxic fumes, without adequate protection.
• Global waste management modeling suggests that a circular economy approach—minimizing waste and reusing resources—could result in a global net gain of USD 108.5 billion. This contrasts with a 'business as usual' approach, which could cost USD 640.3 billion, or an improved practices scenario costing USD 270.2 billion.

APA

Aminu, M. D. (2024). Reducing Methane Emissions from Africa’s Waste Sector through Enhanced Waste Practices. Africa Policy Research Institute. https://afripoli.org/reducing-methane-emissions-from-africas-waste-sector-through-enhanced-waste-practices

Chicago

Aminu, Mohammed Dahiru. Reducing Methane Emissions from Africa’s Waste Sector through Enhanced Waste Practices. Africa Policy Research Institute, 2024. https://afripoli.org/reducing-methane-emissions-from-africas-waste-sector-through-enhanced-waste-practices.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Aminu |first1=Mohammed Dahiru |title=Reducing Methane Emissions from Africa’s Waste Sector through Enhanced Waste Practices |publisher=Africa Policy Research Institute |date=17 December 2024 |url=https://afripoli.org/reducing-methane-emissions-from-africas-waste-sector-through-enhanced-waste-practices |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{aminu2024reducing, author = {Aminu, Mohammed Dahiru}, title = {{Reducing Methane Emissions from Africa’s Waste Sector through Enhanced Waste Practices}}, institution = {Africa Policy Research Institute}, year = {2024}, month = dec, url = {https://afripoli.org/reducing-methane-emissions-from-africas-waste-sector-through-enhanced-waste-practices}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }