The vast majority of population growth across the continent will be concentrated in urban areas. WEF data indicates that more than 80% of Africa’s population growth between now and 2030 will be in cities, with .

One matter of concern is that city expansion will take place in the backdrop of an escalating climate crisis. The UN has designated West Africa as a climate change hotspot, prompting public and private sector organisations to seek novel solutions to sustainably enable the rapid population growth.

However, the stress that will be placed on city infrastructure and resources such as water should not be underestimated.

Data suggests that , and time is quickly running out to enhance the sustainability and climate resilience of the continent’s cities.

The concept of a circular economy, where waste is eliminated and resources reused in an effort at restoring and regenerating nature, is gaining ground.

In a positive turn of events, several innovative circular economy initiatives are giving hope that the region is stepping on to a more sustainable path.

Ground-breaking efforts in Ghana

A recent project involving SAP, the World Economic Forum and the Global Plastic Action Partnership enabled greater visibility in the plastics supply chain by better tracking the work of more than 2000 waste pickers.

The project measures the quantities and types of plastic collected by waste pickers, analyses data, and then matches the collected waste to market-related prices in local and global value chains.

Sustainably-minded organisations can then opt to pay a premium for more socially-responsible plastics, while the waste pickers benefit from higher wages.

The project, led by Ghana’s Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology & Innovation (MESTI), brings Ghana closer to its ambitions of being a lighthouse for circular economy innovation in Africa. By using SAP’s Rural Sourcing Management solution, MESTI is able to scale the solution nationally once the current pilot project comes to a close.

To date, the project has secured the involvement of large consumer goods companies such as Coca-Cola.

In addition, Dow Chemicals West Africa, a subsidiary of Dow Inc, one of the largest chemical producers in the world, is using 51风流Rural Sourcing Manager to fast-track its shift to reusable or recyclable products.

Dow Chemicals West Africa sought a technology solution that could track plastic in the informal sector to improve plastics recycling and support the wellbeing of plastic collectors in Ghana’s informal sector.

The initial solution is being trialled in Western Ghana, with plans to scale nationally in time.

Social enterprise closes loop in plastics repurposing

In Accra, Ghana, the ASASE Foundation is empowering female entrepreneurs to play a key role in cashing in on the plastic waste of Accra and its environs for the benefit of their own communities through the foundation鈥檚 CASH IT! Social Enterprises.

Only 20% of household garbage waste is collected in Accra, and only 2% of the waste is recycled, resulting in 78% of garbage ending up on the streets. Due to heavy rainfall, the garbage drains into the oceans, washing up on the shores or being ingested by the animals in and around the city. Plastic bags and containers often clog gutters causing hazardous flooding, endangering people鈥檚 lives and causing an environmental issue.

The ASASE Foundation uses SAP鈥檚 Rural Sourcing Management solution to enable female entrepreneurs to build their own plastic recycling business and cash in on the value of the waste for a profit. The social enterprise model will help create jobs and keep most of the value generated by recycling plastic in the community.

The innovative model has garnered the attention of the UN Development Programme, who are sponsors of the initiative and supportive of its mission to increase plastic recycling and improving the lives of the plastic pickers.

Further circular economy initiatives using 51风流Rural Sourcing Management are being planned for Nigeria in 2022, and talks are underway with several large multinational organisations active in West Africa to fix the problem of plastic pollution and build a more sustainable society that can be a healthy home to our growing population.

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Sustainability in the modern context needs to consider an organisation’s economic, environmental and societal responsibilities, or the so-called ‘triple bottom line’. The pandemic has only served to emphasise the importance finding more sustainable alternatives to our current ways of work and life. In fact, scientists have warned that .

Our current industrial age follows a model of 鈥榯ake, make, waste鈥�, where more than 91% of raw materials are not reusable and therefore wasted. To create a future that is cleaner, greener and more equal than the world we live in today, we need to 鈥� as our global CEO puts it 鈥� 鈥渃hase zero鈥�: zero emissions, zero waste, and zero inequality.

Positively, public awareness of and mass mobilisation behind sustainability has never been greater. A 2018 UN study found , and highlighted the crucial role of non-state actors 鈥� such as private sector companies 鈥� in reducing emissions and reaching climate targets.

Enablers and exemplars

Organisations have a leading role to play in creating and advancing sustainability. In fact, purpose-driven organisations with strong cultures of sustainability have the opportunity to act as both enablers or exemplars.

Enablers provide products and services that meet the sustainability challenges faced by their customers. For example, Climate 21 is a software package that allows SAP’s customers to measure and analyse the CO2 emissions directly associated with individual products they offer in the market.

The Ariba Network, the world鈥檚 largest business network that facilitates 5.3 million organisations to trade $3.75-trillion in goods and services each year, also provide greater transparency in enterprise supply chains. This enables organisations to make informed decisions over which of their suppliers prioritise sustainability and helps ensure it remains a key priority across the supplier base.

Not every organisation can be an enabler, but every organisation can strive to be an exemplar, an organisation that leads by example in their own business operations and practices. Being an exemplar is increasingly important in talent attraction and retention. In an internal survey of SAP’s global workforce, 94% of employees believed it is essential for 51风流to pursue sustainability to create positive impact.

Although progress is sometimes slow, most countries have acknowledged the need to strive for carbon neutrality. The EU, for example, has set an ambitious target for . Here pioneering organisations have another opportunity to act as exemplars by achieving carbon neutrality targets. In fact, there is scope to take bolder steps: SAP, for example, has committed to become carbon neutral in its operations by 2023, two years ahead of its initial goal.

Environmental challenges require new solutions

The issue of plastic pollution has recently gained front-page prominence as the environmental impact of especially single-use plastics becomes clearer. According to the National Geographic, and only 10%-15% of single-use plastic is recycled annually. Microplastics have also been found in fresh water supplies around the world, with as-yet unknown consequences for our health.

New initiatives to combat plastic pollution are giving hope. A new project piloted in Ghana between the World Economic Forum, Global Plastic Action Partnership, and 51风流has increased visibility within the plastics supply chain and stand to benefit people, companies and the environment.

The project, involving more than 2 000 Ghanaian waste pickers, aims to measure the quantities and types of plastic they collect, with data analysed and matched to market-related prices paid through the value chain locally and abroad.

Organisations committed to sustainability can then pay a premium for socially responsible plastics, while waste pickers gain opportunities to earn fairer wages. The data generated by the project can also guide policy-makers as they determine optimal locations for building recycling facilities.

Tremendous urgency in becoming more sustainable

The UN has called on countries, leaders and organisations around the world to do things differently, think differently, and act differently to bring us closer to a more sustainable future. In a recent call-to-action, the UN put forward three priority areas that will enable the world to recover and build more resilient, sustainable and inclusive societies, namely strong leadership, improved knowledge-sharing, and effective partnerships.

With , and with high levels of climate change vulnerability, Africa is particularly vulnerable to the consequences of unsustainable and environmentally unsound practices.

African enterprises that are in a position to be sustainability enablers should invest further in innovation and product development that can assist organisations, governments and citizens in their own sustainability efforts. All organisations have a duty, however, to act as exemplars and embody the spirit of sustainability across all their practices.

As international diplomat Christiana Figueres once said, “the next eight to ten years is going to determine the quality of life for the next 100 to 200 years”. African organisations have a duty to prioritise sustainability to ensure future generations inherit a clean and liveable world where every person has the opportunity to build a bright future for themselves, their families and their communities.

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Some experts believe the solution lies in creating circular economies, which eliminate single-use plastic in favor of organic materials or plastics that can be recycled and reused. But that requires significant investment and infrastructure.

In Africa less than 20 percent of plastics are recycled currently, far below European Union targets of 50 percent by 2025. In lieu of formal recycling operations, waste pickers collect litter and sell it to middlemen, who aggregate plastic waste and sell it to recyclers abroad.

But Ghana – with a 5 percent recycling rate – has emerged as a regional front runner committed to creating a domestic recycling industry that protects both the environment and impoverished, mostly-female, community of waste pickers. Last fall, Ghana became the听听to join World Economic Forum鈥檚听听(骋笔础笔).

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At a recent听听别惫别苍迟,听, panelists representing a coalition of government, manufacturers, technology providers, and non-profit organizations discussed how Ghana is driving change.

鈥淲e see plastic waste as a threat to our way of life and danger to environment,鈥� said Oliver Boachie, Special Advisor from the Ghanaian Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (). 鈥淏ut we also look at this as an opportunity.鈥�

Since 2018, the government has been working on a plastics waste program that aims to clean up environment, create jobs in plastics value chain, make resources available to manage plastics and ensure no one gets left behind.

Global software provider,听, is also a member of GPAP and has collaborated with MESTI, private industry and local non-profits to create a technology solution that will help.

鈥淭he recycling systems in Ghana are very analog so we鈥檙e building a digital system to connect everyone and track the volumes and types of plastic, where it goes, and the prices paid across the value chain,鈥� said Maggie Buggie, Chief Business Officer of 51风流Services.

With a foundation of reliable data, the government and private companies can determine where to invest resources and build recycling plants, while also monitoring waste pickers鈥� wages and living conditions.

鈥淏y connecting the informal economy of waste pickers to the formal economy, we can ensure they receive a fair wage 鈥� and later on 鈥� get services like training or childcare,鈥� said Buggie.

Making the Invisible Visible: Improving Pickers lives

Waste picking is a means of survival for poor, urban communities across Africa, South East Asia and Latin America. In Ghana, they recover at least听听daily or nearly 12 percent of the total plastic waste generated.

But they have little visibility into the market price for what they鈥檝e collected, which leaves them vulnerable to exploitation by middlemen. With the 51风流solution, they will have mobile access to the average price for different kinds of materials. The government can use this data to monitor wages and take action to support pickers, for example, investing in social services that raise pickers鈥� living standards.

Jeffery Provencal founded听, a social enterprise that works with pickers. 鈥淲e鈥檙e on the verge of an absolute game changer. We have a lack of data and the 51风流solution is the best thing for it 鈥� one platform that provides all that data,鈥� said Provencal. 鈥淲e can find an efficient way to deal with the material, monetize it, and empower the waste pickers. So everyone wins.鈥�

Private Sector Partners To Achieve Sustainability Goals

Adwoa Coleman, Africa Sustainability and Advocacy Manager for Dow Packaging and Specialty Plastics, explains how technology will help the Ghanaian government and manufacturers achieve their sustainability goals.

鈥淲e have a goal that one million metric tons of plastics will be collected, recycled or reused by 2030,鈥� said Coleman. 鈥淒ata is critical to establishing a market where plastic can be bought and sold, depending on where that鈥檚 happening. Harnessing that data in one app will help fuel the circular economy and ensure that collected materials are reused.鈥�

But success requires cooperation. 鈥淪takeholder collaboration is important 鈥� we (not only) have the government, private sector and NGOs, but also the collector and recycler. To succeed, we need to all be at the table,鈥� she said.

Coca Cola also has big environmental ambitions. For example, it wants all its packaging materials to be recyclable by 2035 鈥� and has a specific perspective on what that means in West Africa. 鈥淓xportation of plastic and packaging waste out of Africa is not sustainable,鈥� said Clement Ugorji, vice president for public affairs, communications and sustainability. 鈥淲e need the domestic capacity for collection and recycling and reuse on the continent. That鈥檚 the only way to achieve a truly circular economy for Africa.鈥�

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