Waste Management Perspectives in Some Selected African Regions

Managing waste generally, especially municipal solid waste (MSW), has been a reoccurring problem among nations. In recent past, plastic waste has become a worldwide issue in environmental management, next to climate-change-related issues. This is premised on the fact that the seas and oceans, which constitute the eventual natural sink for virtually all natural and anthropogenic activities on the globe, are now being polluted by wastes from plastic. What then are the sources of waste from plastic pollution? What are their effects on the environment and human health? What are the management strategies for managing and controlling such wastes? An attempt is made in this chapter to provide answers to these questions. Discussions in the chapter are based on some selected regions of Africa, such as the Western and Central African regions as well as the Eastern and Southern African regions. Emphases were based on countries such as Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal for the Western region, Angola and Democratic Republic of the Congo for the Central African region, Kenya for Eastern Africa and South Africa for the Southern African region.