Is progress being made towards improving waste management in the wilaya of Constantine in Algeria? That is, however, the objective of a pilot waste management project that has just received support from the United Nations (UN) Global Environment Facility (GEF). It is a loan of 960 million Algerian dinars (7.2 million euros).
The pilot waste management project in the wilaya of Constantine will lead to the construction of recycling plants, waste recovery plants and landfill sites. Recycling will concern plastic waste, copper and cardboard. Organic waste will be used to make fertiliser for agriculture. Hazardous waste will be buried.
The first steps in waste treatment in Constantine
The implementation of the pilot waste management project in the wilaya of Constantine will require a total investment of 5 billion Algerian dinars (37.5 million euros). The Algerian government is counting on development partners to carry out this project.
Fazia Dahlab, Director of Climate Change at the Algerian Ministry of Environment and Renewable Energies, says the government encourages, “investors interested in building industrial complexes for recycling and waste recovery given the enormous environmental and health benefits of this activity”.
If successful, this project will be implemented in other wilayas in Algeria. Until then, people still have high expectations for waste management. Recently, residents of several districts of the city of Ali Mendjeli (Constantine), have expressed their anger at the decrease in the number of round trips by waste collection trucks.
Although, since 2017, local authorities have been committed to improving waste management in the wilaya of Constantine. For example, they have set up a waste sorting centre in Mendjeli, one of the major urban areas of the wilaya. The installation is equipped with a cutting machine that separates the waste according to its size and nature, and three waste collection and recycling boxes. This equipment allows the treatment of 2 tons of dry waste per day.
Jean Marie Takouleu