Exclusive interview with Catalina Marulanda, practice manager, urban, resilience and land, East Africa at the world bank. At the upcoming Africa’s Green Economy summit in Feb 2024, she is the moderator of session on circular economy and waste management.
Let’s start with some background on you and the work that you currently do at the World Bank.
I am originally from Colombia. I am a Civil Engineer and did a PhD in remediation of contaminated soils. I started working at the World Bank in 2001 on projects addressing chemical pollution. For over a decade, I focused on brown environment issues such as solid and hazardous waste management, wastewater management, air pollution, etc. I worked primarily in Latin America and South Asia.
For the past 1.5 years I have been managing the Urban, Resilience and Land Unit in the East Africa Region. We work with governments and the private sector on programs that make cities more productive, resilient and livable through investments, policy dialog and technical assistance.
What is the current state of solid waste management in Africa compared to the rest of the world?
The solid waste management situation at the global level is very critical. By 2050, the world will be producing roughly 4 billion tonnes of municipal waste per year. This is an enormous amount of waste! It also represents a 73% increase in the volume generated 30 years earlier, in 2020.
Despite our efforts to curb and to better manage solid waste, we are not going in the right trajectory and the global trend is alarming. Africa, in particular, is not heading in the right direction. Waste generation in Africa is expected to triple by 2050 (when compared to 2020 levels) because of economic growth, population increases and urbanisation. Africa will go from under 200 million tonnes of municipal waste generated per year, to an estimated 573 million tonnes of waste per year.
On a per capita basis, waste generation rates in Africa remain among the lowest in the world. But with more than half of the world’s population growth expected to occur in Africa by 2050, the total volumes of waste that will be produced are enormous. When you think that less than half of the waste generated in Africa is collected, and that roughly 70% of what is generated is openly dumped and burned, then it becomes clear the situation is alarming and that something needs to be done urgently.
Source of graphics: More Growth, Less Garbage (worldbank.org)
What are the main challenges you face in the work that you are doing?
Improperly managed waste is affecting us all. It is polluting the environment, contributing to greenhouse gases, affecting human health, and contributing to urban flooding. At the World Bank we are supporting national and city governments to strengthen institutions, to put in place systems and to build infrastructure that will help them manage waste in a more sustainable manner.
The biggest two challenges that we face in the sector in Africa are first, one of behavior, and second, one of financing:
Which African countries are doing the right things in your opinion?
Solid waste management is typically a local government agenda. National governments set the regulatory and institutional frameworks, provide financing, but the management of waste is typically the mandate of cities/local governments.
There is a lot of energy in cities across Africa when it comes to waste. We are working in Maputo, in Dar es Salaam, in the Seychelles, in Kinshasa, in Dakar where the foundations for sustainable SWM systems are being put in place. A lot of cities are testing things and setting up systems. Cities have realised that something needs to be done and they are taking action.
What keeps you excited about this sector?
What gives me energy and keeps me excited about this sector is that it is not too late to change things in Africa. As I said before, we know how to manage waste sustainably, it has been done elsewhere. We can change the way cities are managing their waste and we have a responsibility to do so.
There is no reason why countries in Africa should continue to increase the amount of waste they produce as their economies and their populations grow. Africa does not need to replicate the mistakes done by other regions! We can promote behaviors and practices that better manage and recover resources from the waste generated, and that reduce the amount of waste that is ultimately disposed.
At the upcoming Africa’s Areen Economy Summit, you will moderate a session on circular economy and waste management. What will be your message at the event and what are your expectations?
I am very excited to participate in Africa’s Green Economy Summit, and to have the opportunity to convey a few critical messages:
How important is it that swm is part of the Green Economy agenda?
To me, green economy means sustainable, efficient growth. SWM is at the core of that agenda:
Anything you would like to add?
It is urgent to improve solid waste management in Africa. We cannot afford the economic and environmental impacts of not doing so. This is a long-term agenda and there are no short cuts! The good news is that we all have a role to play and that it can be done.
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