Most of them are completely buried
Waste recycling innovations in the Maghreb..without expectations
Workers load compost bags at the “Elifan Fer” (Green Elephant) factory in the Agropolis industrial zone in Meknes.
AFP
Workers at a plastic recycling plant in El Mughira, Tunisia.
AFP
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“Nothing is lost here, everything is recycled" in Morocco, where this sector faces difficulties, says Mohamed proudly, while holding a mixture of natural fertilizers produced by a Swiss company specializing in the valorization of organic waste.
The Elevan Fair (Green Elephant) group established in 2012 in the industrial zone of Agropolis in the city of Meknes (central) the largest factory in Africa specialized in the recycling and production of organic materials and natural fertilizers.
It employs about 50 workers, with a production capacity of about 40,000 tons of organic matter.
At the entrance to the factory there are modern offices with grassy green walls decorated with graffiti.
But the décor soon changes upon arrival at the manufacturing site, where scraps of wood, piles of sawdust, branches of fruit trees and little boxes pile up here and there.
The official in charge of production in the company, Muhammad Kabous, explains the stages of manufacturing, as he says: "After mixing the organic materials rich in carbon and the remains of animals that contain nitrogen, nature's turn comes."
No household organic waste is used in this factory.
The official justified this as "expensive because the culture of sorting is almost completely absent in Morocco."
Waste is brought from other production areas such as wood mills and natural oil extraction syndications.
healthy and sustainable agriculture
The outdoor fermentation process takes four months to obtain the compost mixture without producing musty odors, because wood is a natural odor-absorbing material.
On the contrary, the earth smells of dust.
"We inhale the smell of zamita," a kind of Moroccan sweets, joked the official, who wore a green hat and yellow jacket.
The company produces organic fertilizer and adds phosphorous or potash to it.
The product is sold mainly in the Moroccan market for the benefit of biological farms and large agricultural establishments whose lands suffer from extensive use of chemical fertilizers.
Agriculture is a mainstay of the Moroccan economy.
Mohamed Kabous asserts that the demand "is rising from farmers who are keen on preserving the soil, and who appreciate the need to move towards healthy and sustainable agriculture."
The features of the development and prosperity of the organic sector production in Morocco appear, especially with the emergence of initiatives such as the French waste treatment and valorization center “Suez” in the city of Meknes (which treats 7,000 cubic meters), but the country has not yet been able to establish an effective system for waste valorization.
comprehensive system
Figures provided by the Ministry of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development to AFP reveal that in 2015 Morocco recycled only 6% of household waste, equivalent to 420,000 tons out of a total of seven million tons annually.
As in the Maghreb countries, the majority of waste is completely landfilled in Morocco.
As for industrial ones, such as plastic, cardboard and electronic equipment, 12% recycle.
This is despite several projects for valorization, including the “National Sustainable Development Strategy” and the waste treatment program with the aim of reaching 20% recycling in 2022, but this date has been extended to the horizon of 2030.
• Each Tunisian produces about 365 kilograms of waste annually, and pays only 800 millimes (about 2 euros) annually to treat it, which does not provide municipalities with financial revenues for the disposal and collection of waste.
• 80% of household waste in Morocco is organic, while the percentage does not exceed 30% in European countries.
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