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Background

In 2019 the president of Sénégal, Macky Sall, launched the “Sénégal Zéro Déchet” programme, to address the country’s challenge of solid waste management. A key objective of this programme was to improve solid waste collection to reduce the uncontrolled dumping of garbage (mainly plastics) across the country. The national waste management body (Unité de Coordination de la Gestion des Déchets Solides - UCG) piloted the installation of PRNs in 2020. This now falls under the sustainable PROMOGED project (promoting the integrated management and the circular economy of solid waste in Sénégal), launched in June 2021.

Approach

PRNs (Points de Regroupement Normalisés) are waste disposal cages in which nearby residents and small-scale businesses can deposit their garbage. They are located on fenced sites that are supervised by an agent who screens the garbage and ensures that it is adequately sorted into categorised bins. PRNs are added to truck collection routes, all of which lead to Dakar’s Mbeubeuss landfill.

Environmental Impact

PRNs reduce the use of unsustainable waste disposal practices, including uncontrolled dumping, burning or burying. In fact, PRNs are sometimes even installed on sites where such practices are recurring. Thereby, PRNs contribute to the improvement and health of both residential and natural environments. The separation of waste within the PRNs offers a first step towards the circular model envisioned by the “Sénégal Zéro Déchet” programme. As they are caged, PRNs also prevent livestock from consuming or spreading garbage.

Success Factors

The institutional leadership of UCG that was replaced by SONAGED is praised across the relevant ministries, organisations and solid waste management actors of Dakar. It seems that the rigorous management of SONAGED and their reliable interventions have even repositioned waste labour as a more desirable and respectable sector. This can be seen by the attitude of and engagement with PRN supervisors who perform their role very professionally.

Evidence

The PRN initiative has grown over the years, as it has been disseminated to the broader outskirts of Dakar (80+ PRNs) and other Senegalese cities (82 planned in Thies, 62 in northern cities, and 35 in Casamance). In fact, PRNs are now also being explored as a solution in rural Senegal, where the uncontrolled disposal of garbage in nature is normalised. The success of PRNs is underlined by their explicit integration in the World Bank funded “Africa Environmental Health and Pollution Management Program”.

Evolution

Initially, the PRNs operated only during the day, however it was noted that there was a growing demand to use them at night. Therefore solar-powered lighting has been installed in a growing number of PRNs to ensure the visibility of the infrastructure and the safety of the agents operating on them. Furthermore, certain PRNs strategically situated in locations where higher quantities of solid waste are generated (e.g. markets) have been enlarged to handle more garbage.

Challenges

Raising awareness of the existence and use of PRNs amongst potential users has proven to be challenging. Furthermore, local customs and practices have not yet adapted to the presence of PRNs, and in certain neighbourhoods residents prefer to stick to common practices like dumping. There is also an institutional challenge since UCG was dissolved and replaced by the SONAGED, another governmental body. Following recent national elections the SONAGED transitioned to new leadership, which has picked up existing processes and is also rolling out various new initiatives.