The government of Morocco is presenting its waste management plan for the year 2022. According to the plan, 11 illegal waste dumps will be rehabilitated during this period. Among these dumps, only four will remain open.
Good news for the populations of the communes of Safi, Essaouira, Oualidia, Tiznit, Larache, Ksar El-Kebir, Benguerir-Skhour Rhamna, Ouarzazate, Merzougua and Ouazzane and Casablanca-Settat in Morocco. The Moroccan government plans to improve waste management there through a project to be launched in 2022. It involves the rehabilitation of 11 illegal dumps in the Kingdom. However, four of them will remain open after rehabilitation works.
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According to Leila Benali, the Moroccan Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, who presented the project, the work will require an investment of 200 million Moroccan dinars, about 1.3 million euros. “Facilities will be built to eliminate nuisances and environmental impacts. The unauthorized dumps will then be covered with topsoil and will be subject to degassing and drainage of effluents,” says Minister Leila Benali.
Towards the recovery of waste
The landfills that will remain open are located in the councils of Oualidia, Ouarzazate, Settat and Essaouira. Their storage capacity will be improved through the addition of new cassiers, until the establishment of controlled landfills or landfill and waste recovery centers (CEV).
In the councils of Safi, Tiznit, Larache, Ksar El-Kebir, Benguerir-Skhour Rhamna, Merzouga and Ouazzane, where the illegal dumps will be permanently closed, controlled inter-communal dumps or CEV will take over. These future facilities will help reduce pollution in the areas concerned. Some of these facilities will be able to transform waste into resources, as the Moroccan government’s objective is to increase the waste recycling rate to 20% by 2022 from 7% in 2020, recalled Hassan Chouaouta, President of the Moroccan Association of Waste Management and Environmental Experts during a webinar in November 2020.
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The Moroccan authorities estimate that the plan to rehabilitate and close illegal dumps will be completed by 2023. The project is part of the National Household Waste Program (PNDM), which is being implemented jointly by the Moroccan Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, and the Department of Economy, Finance and Local Government. By 2021, 12 illegal dumps have been rehabilitated, including several closed throughout Morocco.
Inès Magoum
