Solid waste management is one of the major environmental problems threatening the Mediterranean Kingdom of Morocco. More than five million tons of solid waste is generated across the country every year, with the annual waste generation growth rate touching 3%. Proper disposal of municipal solid waste in Morocco is hampered by major deficiencies such as lack of proper infrastructure and suitable funding in areas outside of major cities.
According to a European Commission report, before a recent reform in 2008 “only 70% of urban MSW was collected and less than 10% of collected waste was being disposed of in an environmentally and socially acceptable manner. There were 300 uncontrolled dumpsites, and about 3,500 waste-pickers, of which 10% were children, were living on and around these open dumpsites.”
Rubbish in, dioxins out
It is not uncommon to see trash burning as a means of solid waste disposal in Morocco, as this provides a cheap option in the absence of proper infrastructure. However, this treatment of the municipal waste stream is reckless and unsustainable, and has major effects on both public health and the environment. Unfortunately, the detrimental health effects of burning trash are either unknown or grossly under-estimated by the vast majority of the Moroccan population.
The burning of trash is a particular health concern because of the substantial amounts of the highly toxic environmental pollutants known as dioxins it produces. Most of the dioxins that are released into the air during the burning process end up on the leaves of green vegetation. These plants are then eaten by dairy animals such as cows, sheep and goats, which results in the dioxins being stored and accumulating in the animals’ fatty tissues. Once this occurs dioxins are difficult to avoid, with people being exposed to them primarily though eating meat and other dairy products, especially those high in fat.
Furthermore, this type of open burning also causes particle pollution. Particle pollution refers to microscopic particles that end up in the lungs and can cause a number of human health problems, such as asthma and bronchitis. Unfortunately, children and the elderly who are exposed to dioxins are among the highest at risk for contracting these illnesses. Other harmful carcinogens like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) are also produced by outdoor burning. These pollutants have been known to cause numerous health problems, ranging from skin irritation to liver and kidney damage, and in some cases have been linked to cancer.
The ash that is produced when trash is burned often contains mercury, lead, chromium, and arsenic. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: “Garden vegetables can absorb and accumulate these metals, which can make them dangerous to eat. Children playing in the yard or garden can incidentally ingest soil containing these metals. Also, rain can wash the ash into groundwater and surface water, contaminating drinking water and food.” This is not to mention the population of garbage-pickers who are putting their health on the line while sorting municipal wastes.
Of all the landfills in all the world, you had to graze your cattle on mine. Image courtesy of Ecomena.org
Casa-plan-ca
The good news about the future of Morocco’s MSW management is that the World Bank has allocated $271.3 million to the Moroccan government for the development of a municipal waste management plan. The plan’s details include restoring around 80 landfill sites, improving trash pickup services, and increasing recycling by 20%, all by the year 2020. While this is expected to do wonders for the urban population, one can only hope that the benefits of this reform will trickle down to the 43% of the Moroccan population living in rural areas.
Even with Morocco’s movement towards a safer and more environmentally friendly MSW management system there is still a large section of the population, including children and the elderly, whom this reform will overlook. Until more is done, these people will continue to be exposed to hazardous living conditions because of a lack of suitable funding, infrastructure and education.
We are grateful to EcoMENA for the opportunity to reproduce this article, which first appeared here. EcoMENA is a website focused on raising awareness of renewable energy, sustainability, waste management, environment protection, energy efficiency and resource conservation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
Interesting read and great information.
Dear all, this is the upcoming project which will resolve and get rid of 100% of the Waste issue in the kingdom of Morocco, create thousands of jobs and generate 34 industrial products and mainly clean and renewable energy (electricity) without causing harm to the environment.
GDTC pour les Energies Renouvelables au Royaume du Maroc
Will be a very large multi-phased project consisting of constructing a large Waste-To-Energy Resource Recovery facility, and two underground new landfills,
The project is unique and unlike any other. It is focused primarily on environmental protection and sustainable development, and will pioneer the development of similar future facilities in other major cities throughout the Kingdom of Morocco. The project facility, which is the central hallmark component of the CERRM, will be designed to convert the wide range of waste materials currently disposed in landfills (common household and industrial wastes, discarded tires, construction and demolition waste, green waste etc…) into clean electricity and a range of other 34 commercially viable by-products.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CERRM
The CERRM will bring into the Kingdom of Morocco state-of-the-art solutions to address the existing environmental and energy problems in the country. Once the facility is completed using the proposed conversion technologies, the facility will transform virtually 100% of the received waste materials into a range of revenue-generating products.
The CERRM will also immediately help the Kingdom of Morocco accomplish the Government’s objective of transforming the Kingdom of Morocco’s existing national waste management program into a “zero waste” management program.
Once the CERRM is completed, especially the commissioning of the facility, it will provide several advantages and benefits to the economy and to community life in the Kingdom of Morocco:
Creation of more than 5262 new jobs during the next four phases. These job opportunities will be available to both sexes on 50:50 basis;
The facility can operate 24 hrs.7 days/week, 365 days/year.
The CERRM will offer training opportunities for workers, including practical training to employees and operators at all levels in all the fields related to the CERRM facility operations and waste management;
Long-term access of the Kingdom of Morocco to all of the new technologies incorporated into CERRM operations including future use in other Moroccan cities;
Eventual complete elimination of landfills that currently contribute to environmental degradation;
Substantial reduction of negative impacts on human health and soil, water and air quality;
Provision of local and export markets with several new products at very competitive prices;
Reduction of energy importation and important cost saving of these purchases;
Minimization of electricity production using polluting fuels notably coal;
Rehabilitation of several old landfills
MAIN TECHNOLOGIES
The main product from the CERRM facility is electricity, which will be forwarded to the final consumer through the present grid network. The CERRM facility will use three key state-of-the-art technologies for maximizing the production of the aforementioned four revenue-generating products: clean electricity, recyclable materials such as metal and glass, certain chemicals such as sulfur and iron, and a range of manufactured commercial products such as building materials and fertilizer:
Anaerobic digestion (AD);
Plasma gasification;
Landfill gas collection; and
HHO, or oxyhydrogen or simply shorthand for H2O, (The electricity breaks the bond between the hydrogen molecules and the oxygen molecules, and the hydrogen and oxygen are released as gases. These gases are collected and used by the engine as fuel)
The following are the benefits of the CERRM project in its 5 phases:
1. Taking/getting rid of Fresh and buried Organic and household waste, industrial waste, medical waste, demolition of buildings debris waste & residues of construction and a percentage of discarded rubber tires etc…
2. Production of industrial materials.
1. Agricultural fertilizers
2. Iron and aluminum
3. Glass wool
4. Enriched soil
5. Glass
6. Aggregates (btp)
7. Sulfur
8. Cement
9. Drinking water etc…
3. Taking/getting rid of toxic electronics and dangerous medical waste,
4. Taking/getting rid of oil residue and oil sludge materials and sewage sludge from waste water treatment plants.
5. Taking/getting rid of discarded tires waste.
6. Taking/getting rid of Granules of Iron, ferrous metal materials and non-ferrous. and
7. Production of clean renewable energy (electricity).
More news soon, best regards
This indeed sounds like a unique and adventurous project that, if it works, has the potential to solve all the world’s problems with regard to waste!
As someone with an active interest in renewable energy power generation, specifically from landfill gas (I would argue this medium is a renewable energy until the cows come home), I will be very interested to hear how the project progresses. Is there any further information about it?
Thanks for your contribution Catherine. It’s good to see that someone is still thinking possitively about climate change!
This is quite an interesting topic the waste disposal both under the surface and above.The management for implementing the waste disposal are burned in proper form.
I am interested in developing solutions with potential local partners for waste recovery such as transforming unsorted plastics into re-crude and upgraded using FCC methods. As well, food waste often makes up a large concentration of garbage which can be turned into CNG or used for power generation. And there are also plenty of auto tires either dumped illegally or disposed of in landfill by local consumers that can be turned into oils and aggregates.
I would suggest that first secure government position to have enforceable policies and laws in place. secondly,your government should wave off taxes for investors in Waste Management, this will attract better methods and innovations.
I prefer managing waste at source with value additional, instead of Generators to pay the Collector pays for already sorted waste and sells direct to recyclers.