Thirty days. That’s how long Algeria’s National Waste Agency (AND) has set itself to study the behavior of Algerians towards waste. The project, billed as the first of its kind in the country, was launched on February 15, 2024 in the capital Algiers. The study will determine each citizen’s capacity to integrate projects or programs linked to waste management in the North African country, as well as their willingness to adopt the circular economy on a daily basis.
In concrete terms, AND will draw up questionnaires that will be handed out to targeted households in various wilayas, representative of all Algerian households, as well as to large, medium and small urban concentrations, in order to build standard profiles on which communication and awareness-raising action will henceforth be focused in the waste sector.
Adopting “eco-responsible” behavior
A platform will also be created to enable the teams responsible for carrying out the survey in the field to carry out their mission in the best possible conditions. “The results of the study, which will be unveiled in a month’s time, will also serve as a database to establish awareness-raising programs that are in harmony with the way Algerian citizens think”, asserts Sara Tazrout, head of the Information and Communication Department at AND. The initiative will also encourage Algerians to adopt eco-responsible waste management behaviors.
In addition to reducing pollution, the project will help to improve living conditions for the population while preserving the environment. The Algerian government’s ambition is to recover 30% of household waste by 2035, according to the AND, in a country that produces an average of 13.1 tonnes of household waste per year, or one kilogram per inhabitant per day.
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As a reminder, the project to study citizens’ behavior towards waste in Algeria is part of a partnership agreement between the Centre de recherche en économie appliquée pour le développement (Cread), the AND and the University of Algiers 2 Abou El Kacem Saâdallah.
Inès Magoum