Did you know?

Municipal solid waste management is often one of the main expense for local authorities, representing up to 30% of municipal budgets in sub-Saharan Africa. However, the resources allocated to cities in developing countries are still far from sufficient to meet the challenges. While the public waste management service costed an average of €89 per inhabitant in 2012 to French local authorities (Source: ADEME), the city of New Delhi allocated only $7 per inhabitant in 2010, and Bamako only $1.

Moreover, this expense is focused on the visible stages of collection and transport to ensure the cleanliness of the city’s streets. Solid waste treatment is often relegated to the bottom of the priority list of public officials, partly because of the complexity of such projects. Indeed, a treatment facility requires land that is often scarce in urban or periurban areas, this type of facility is unpopular with residents (NIMBY syndrome: Not in My Backyard), and the benefits of efficient disposal are not very visible, unlike those of rubbish removal.