Addis Ababa Generates Over 73k Tons of Plastic Annually

Addis Ababa city administration says that 73 thousand tons of plastic waste is generated annually in the capital city. Discussion have been held with the leaders of higher education institutions and stakeholders to minimize plastic use and keep the environment clean.

US embassy in Ethiopia today posted about plastic waste crisis faced by Ethiopia. It said,” Ethiopia faces a plastic waste crisis, with only 30-40% recycled due to limited resources. Cool Plastics, a female-led company, recycles 372,000 tons yearly into useful agriculture packaging, reducing pollution and promoting resource efficiency”. Cool Plastics is supported by USAID.

According to a study conducted in 2022, on average, every citizen in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia’s capital, is estimated to generate about 51 kg of waste per year. About half of that waste is organic, which includes predominantly food waste. About 7.92 kg, or 15.5% of the total waste generated, is plastic. Although not surprising, people with a higher income generally use (and dispose) more plastic than their lower earning peers, with the former also using more different sorts of plastic.

PET, which is used for plastic bottles (e.g. water, cola) is by far the most popular plastic in Addis Abeba followed by HDPE. HDPE is often used for shower gel holders, shopping bags, and even water pipes, but also for jerrycans, which are used to collect water from collective water points – this explains the relatively high share of HDPE in the ‘plastic mix’ of people with a lower income. While PET and HDPE account for almost two-thirds of the total plastic consumption, LDPE, used mainly in agriculture for irrigation tubing and mulch films – covering and protecting crops – as well as for garbage bags, and PP, which is used as packaging boxes for warm meal takeaways, are also popular plastics.

Plastics can persist in the environment for hundreds of years with a detrimental effect on the environment and biodiversity. By ending up in the environment, plastics inadvertently end up in human food chains.

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