This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: In many African cities, a broken fridge is rarely thrown away immediately. It may be repaired and resold, dismantled for spare parts or collected for its metal components.
Old clothes are often altered or transformed into something new. Leftover crop stalks and leaves are turned into animal feed, compost, cooking fuel or biogas. These activities are often driven by need.
Incomes are limited and it's expensive to replace appliances or worn-out clothes. Sometimes recycling also happens because of unreliable waste collection. These are also examples of a circular economy.
This is where products and materials are kept in use for as long as possible. It's the opposite of a system where resources are extracted from nature and turned into goods that are sold, used and eventually thrown away. We are circular economy specialists who look at how recycling and repair practices are already part of everyday economic activity across Africa.
Our aim is to find ways for policymakers to take small projects and scale them up. In our latest research, we looked at policies and examples from African countries to find out how circular economy practices are taking off on the continent. Our research found that circular economies aren't happening everywhere.
Thirty-four African countries have banned plastic bags to some degree. Rwanda, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa and Morocco have set up facilities to recycle e-waste (discarded electronic devices). They've also set up projects that turn waste into energy.
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