Publication: West Africa Circular Economy: Realizing the Potential of Plastics
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2023-07-12
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2023-07-12
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The circular economy has become a priority in recent decades as policy makers seek to facilitate a transition from linear production systems to closed systems that reuse resources, reduce energy consumption and avoid the exploitation of nonrenewable resources. This regional gap analysis reveals several important trends. Key among them is a rapid rate of increase. Plastic consumption in the WACA region was estimated at 7.9 million tons in 2021; at current growth rates, this could increase to 12 million tons by 2026. The WACA region relies heavily on imported plastic-related goods from sources outside the region, such as Asia. Nigeria was found to be both the largest producer of plastic products and the biggest importer of plastic parts and products, in addition to being the WACA region’s only producer of virgin plastic resin. Other notable major producers of plastics in the WACA region include Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. The plastic landscape investigation included a spatial analysis of plastic waste generation across the WACA region. This revealed varying rates of national annual plastic generation. The spatial analysis work also led to the identification of 71 plastic waste generation hotspots across the WACA region, with a concentration in Nigeria. The plastic market analysis revealed that the three industry sectors (construction, plastic packaging, and fisheries) represented 78 percent of total plastic consumption in 2021. By 2026, the three sectors’ business-as-usual plastic consumption is expected to reach 9.5 million tons, with per capita plastic waste growing from 12.5 kilograms (kg) to 17.3 kg. The largest plastics consumer of the three sectors is plastic packaging, followed by construction. The plastic packaging sector could focus on new, circular economy business models over the next five years. In this sector, plastic waste recovery and avoidance/reuse/recycling of between 2.2 and 4 million tons of plastic in a “pragmatic” 1 circular scenario would reduce CO 2 emissions between 41 and 53 percent (3.6–6.7 million tons CO 2 emissions). In the construction industry, in a pragmatic circular scenario plastic avoidance would reduce CO 2 emissions between 0.1 and 0.3 million tons, and plastic waste recovery would reduce CO 2 emissions between 0.1 and 0.2 million tons. Finally, in the fisheries sector, plastic avoidance under the pragmatic circular scenario would reduce CO 2 emissions between 0.03 and 0.05 million tons, and plastic waste recovery would reduce CO 2 emissions between 0.04 and 0.07 million tons. New circular business models can motivate these three sectors to reuse and extend the life span of plastic materials.
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“World Bank. 2023. West Africa Circular Economy: Realizing the Potential of Plastics. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/39988 License: CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO.”
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