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Beyond its environmental importance, the collection and recovery of waste constitutes a great economic opportunity, particularly through the creation of new industrial sectors. This activity nevertheless remains underdeveloped in Algeria and above all unstructured, although a legal framework has been established. In this interview, Arezki Chenane, teacher-researcher at Mouloud-Mammeri University in Tizi Ouzou, specialist in questions of sustainable territorial development and entrepreneurial dynamics, takes stock of this sector, highlights the opportunities offered by its development and, above all, reveals how to boost this emerging activity.
The Young Independent: The question of waste recovery and the need to develop this activity is often raised. What is your assessment of waste recovery and recovery in the country?
Arezki Chenane: Since the establishment of the institutional and regulatory framework governing waste management and the laws governing sustainable development in the 2000s, we are truly witnessing environmental concerns being addressed. Regarding the component relating to sustainable and integrated waste management containing all the stages: from the generation (collection, recovery and landfill or sorting center) of the waste to its treatment (elimination and recovery), this is governed by Law No. 25-02 which revised Law No. 01-19.
Regarding the state of play of waste recovery and valorization in view of recent developments, we can say that despite this regulatory framework, it is carried out in a poorly organized environment. This is due, on the one hand, to the lack of articulation and harmony between the institutions responsible for waste collection, led by the municipalities. The latter suffer from a lack of suitable human, material and financial resources, finding themselves unable to put in place a waste management master plan for their territories. On this specific point, it should be noted that when these plans exist and the study is carried out, either it is not approved by the municipality or is not updated when it is not realistic and does not take into account the specificities of the territory of the municipality in question.
At the level of economic operators, the dynamic of recovery from businesses, households as well as from sorting centers is very developed but it is carried out in inappropriate conditions, requiring stricter supervision. In fact, the recovery and recovery of waste does not exceed 10%, out of an annual production estimated at more than 13 million tonnes.
Apart from certain initiatives, some of which operate outside the regulatory framework, according to observers, the activity is not yet developed. What do you think should be done to boost this activity?
In my opinion, the activity is developed and has even experienced considerable growth in recent years, but it is not structured in the sense that the informal sector occupies an important place. This is mainly due to the lack of supervision of this new segment known as green entrepreneurship, which is distinct from traditional entrepreneurship. Project leaders often find themselves faced with constraints linked to the nomenclature of activities with the NRC. Some codes are not available for these new activities. This is a new emerging sector.
This is why it is necessary to create favorable conditions for the development of this investment segment that creates wealth and jobs for the national economy. This first involves setting up the national waste management information system (SNID), which is already in the works. This will provide a dashboard on the quantities of waste generated by territory and by category by characterizing them. Then, we must encourage economic operators operating in this niche to specialize, by putting in place coherent and complementary activity names for the recovery of each type of waste generated. This approach is, of course, part of market regulation via the waste exchange, which has already been put in place but whose regulatory tools are not yet functional.
Finally, we must move towards mastering green technologies and forms of waste recovery, by putting in place new financing mechanisms adapted to these activities. Economic operators are faced with a financing problem due to the fact that green project leaders do not have suitable banking products (credit lines).
What would be the loss of profits from not exploiting these opportunities?
As we have previously reported, the low rate of waste recovery and valorization in Algeria offers major opportunities for investment in this niche. For example, nearly 60% of the household waste generated represents the wet fraction which is not treated and which should nevertheless be used as compost for the needs of agriculture or energy recovery. Moreover, waste constitutes raw materials for numerous activities, with a view to reducing natural resources. We should succeed in integrating the dimensions of the circular economy into the framework of economic diversification. As such, we can measure the contribution of this potential of activities linked not only to waste opportunities but also to all activities dedicated to sustainable development. This measurement will be done via green GDP, which will subtract the costs of pollution, deforestation, resource depletion (such as water or hydrocarbons) and loss of biodiversity. This is what will allow us to measure sustainable growth.
The desire to support the circular economy has been repeatedly reaffirmed by public authorities. What about this economy in Algeria?
The circular economy aims to keep resources in circulation for as long as possible, thereby creating a more sustainable system. In Algeria, this new situation has been integrated into the framework of the new law on waste management, in this case law n°25-18 modifying and enriching law n°19-01. This new law aims to strengthen the principles of the circular economy, extended producer responsibility (EPR) and eco-design, and establishes a stricter hierarchy of waste treatment methods. It also includes the gradual elimination of single-use plastics as well as tougher sanctions.
Algeria must therefore adopt circular economy strategies adapted to our socio-economic reality. To this end, we suggest the strategy of eco-design as well as responsible sourcing and consumption, without forgetting the strategy linked to the management of resources at the end of the life of products (recycling, compost and recovery). It is around this second strategy that we must focus today, due to the low rate of waste treatment and recovery, which remains very low (10%).
The various meetings and exhibitions dedicated to the theme are an opportunity to identify this potential through the identification of ways and means of development of these segments of the circular economy, already contained in the national strategy for integrated waste management (SNGID) by 2035.
Several African countries also face the challenge of waste recovery. In your opinion, can we talk about the adoption of a common continental model?
A common continental vision is part of the main directions and recommendations of the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) aimed at promoting economic integration, trade and investments in Africa, in alignment with the objective of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). This is why investment in the field of the circular economy, and particularly in waste management, constitutes a great opportunity for African countries, in order to materialize a common strategy aimed at identifying probable green investments by focusing on the resources of different countries.
For example, electronic waste management is an increasingly pressing problem in most countries, with increasing volumes as well as health and environmental risks due to the lack of adequate infrastructure and regulations.