Opinion: Who pays for Africa’s organic waste?

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Africa’s circular economy financing is too focused on packaging, leaving the majority of its waste (organic material) without a clear mechanism for recovery, says environmentalist Frank Adiga. He argues that national circular economy plans must look beyond extended producer responsibility to fund the recovery of organics.

• Mr Adiga is a Chartered Environmentalist and a regional circular economy consultant at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), where his current work includes a six-country study examining the links between the circular economy, climate and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in Southern Africa. 

• “Extended producer responsibility attaches to a producer who places a product on the market. A banana peel has no brand owner,” he says, calling for new financing approaches to make organic waste recovery economically viable.

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