By A. A. Tijjani
Every day the world produces mountains of waste. What we call garbage is not just a smell on the street or an eyesore; it is raw material, lost income, jobs not yet created, and a threat to health, nature and the climate. Turning waste into an economic venture is not a dream, it is a necessity and an opportunity. If governments, businesses and communities treat waste as a resource instead of a burden, they can protect health, create jobs, reduce pollution and build stronger local economies.
Globally the numbers are startling. In recent years the world produced well over two billion tonnes of solid waste a year, and that number is rising as cities grow and consumption increases. A large share of that waste is not properly managed: plastics, organics and other materials are dumped, burned or washed into rivers and oceans. The result is damaged fisheries, clogged drains, harmful smoke, and a hidden cost to public health and livelihoods. These are not distant problems; they affect the food we eat, the air we breathe and the weather we face, as well as the water we drink!
The scale of mismanagement is also significant. Even before recent efforts, studies found that roughly one-third of municipal waste globally is openly dumped or burned rather than safely contained or recycled. When trash is mismanaged on such a scale, it poisons water, soils and air, increases greenhouse gas emissions, and spreads disease and those burdens fall hardest on poor people and low-income countries that already struggle to provide public services. Changing this pattern matters for global health and for climate action.
Plastics offer a clear example of the problem. Only a small fraction of the world’s plastic is effectively recycled. Most plastic wastes are incinerated, landfilled or escape collection systems and end up in rivers and seas. That is wasteful in economic terms and catastrophic for ecosystems. Yet plastics are a material with value: when collected, sorted and transformed, they can become new products, fuels or feedstock for industry. Improving collection and recycling systems would cut pollution and put money back into local economies.
In Africa the challenge is acute but the opportunities are large. Rapid urban growth has outpaced waste services in many cities. Informal recycling. People who collect, sort and sell recyclables by hand: already plays a huge role in resource recovery across the continent. These workers, though often overlooked and poorly protected, recover materials that would otherwise be lost and they form the backbone of many local recycling chains. Formalizing and supporting these workers and providing basic infrastructure, from collection and sorting facilities to small-scale processing, could raise incomes, improve worker safety and significantly increase recovery rates.
Nigeria illustrates both the scale of the problem and the potential for impact. Urban waste in Nigeria is large and growing. One analysis estimated that urban areas generated tens of thousands of tonnes of waste every day, and projections show waste volumes rising as cities expand. In Lagos and other large cities the amounts are particularly striking: Lagos has been reported to generate many thousands of tonnes of solid waste each day, placing immense pressure on collection, transport and disposal systems. These quantities mean that with better organization and investment, Nigeria could divert huge volumes of waste into useful products and in doing so create jobs, reduce disease and conserve resources.
Why treat waste as an economic venture? First, there is money in materials. Paper, cardboard, glass, metals and many plastics retain commercial value if they are clean enough and collected at scale. Organic waste, food scraps and yard trimmings can be turned into compost or biogas, supporting agriculture and providing renewable energy. Second, recycling and waste processing create many kinds of jobs: collection crews, sorters, transport operators, technicians for recycling plants, and managers. These are often local, non-exportable jobs that cannot be fully automated and that provide livelihoods for people with a range of skills. Third, reducing landfill and open burning lowers public health costs and environmental cleanup bills, freeing government budgets for schools, clinics and infrastructure.
Turning this idea into reality requires action on several linked fronts. Start with collection and separation. Cities that collect waste reliably, and encourage households and businesses to separate recyclables and organics at source, reduce contamination and make recycling economically viable. Investments in basic infrastructure, transfer stations, sorting centers and small-scale recycling plants can create a market for materials and shorten the chain from waste to product. Policies that require manufacturers to take responsibility for their packaging, or that create incentives for recycled content, push markets to accept secondary materials. Training and formal recognition of informal workers is essential: when waste pickers are organized, paid fairly and given protective equipment, recovery rates go up and social harms fall.
ENLIGHTENMENT
Education and awareness are key. People need clear, simple information about what can be recycled, how to separate at home, and why it matters. Schools, churches, markets and media campaigns can all play a role. When communities see that separation and recycling bring cleaner streets, better health and new jobs, social norms change. Small, visible successes help: a neighborhood that cleans its drain and stops flooding, a market that sorts its cardboard and earns income from it, or a school that turns food waste into compost for its garden.
Finance and business models must match local realities. In many countries, large centralized incinerators or very expensive technologies are unrealistic. Instead, a mix of low and medium-tech solutions often works best: community composting, decentralized anaerobic digesters for food waste, manual and mechanized sorting lines, and modular recycling units that can be scaled. Public-private partnerships (PPP) can mobilize capital and know-how, while microfinance and impact investors can support small enterprises and cooperatives. Governments can use modest subsidies or guaranteed purchasing of compost and recyclables at fair prices to jump-start markets.
Policy design should be practical and enforceable. Bans that are rushed without alternatives often push plastics and other single-use items into the informal market without solving the root problems. Better approaches include phased bans combined with support for affordable, safe alternatives, extended producer responsibility that makes manufacturers pay for collection and recycling, and clear rules that protect workers and communities. Monitoring matters: data on how much waste is generated, collected and recovered helps managers make better choices and lets citizens hold institutions accountable.
Health and equity need to be central. In many cities informal workers recover a large share of recyclables but do so without protective gear, fair pay or social protection. Formalizing these workers through cooperatives, contracts with municipalities, microcredit and training improves incomes and health while raising the volume and quality of recovered materials. Women and young people often participate in these value chains; strengthening their role supports inclusive growth.
There are already success stories to learn from. Cities that have invested in door-to-door collection, sorting and recovery have cut litter and recovered materials at scale. Community-level composting programs have turned food waste into valuable fertilizer while reducing disposal costs. Social enterprises that collect plastics and turn them into construction blocks or marketable goods have shown how local innovation can create both products and jobs. These projects are often small at first, but when replicated and linked with markets, they scale.
Nigeria and other African nations have particular strengths to build on: a large informal recycling workforce; local manufacturing that can use recycled inputs; and tight-knit communities that can organize collection and reuse. Policymakers should focus on low-cost infrastructure, clear rules that encourage private investment and support for the many small businesses and cooperatives that already form the backbone of recycling. Donors and development banks can help by funding pilot projects that prove models, by supporting skills training, and by helping set up local value chains that connect waste materials to buyers.
Education must not only inform but inspire. Children who learn about sorting, composting and the value of materials carry these habits into adult life. Media here: the likes of NATURENEWS can proclaim the more by showing how waste becomes useful products and how entrepreneurs and cooperatives earn a living from resource recovery. Celebrating local champions waste collectors, small-scale processors, as well as innovators can change the story from shame to pride.
The environmental case is also strong. Better waste handling cuts methane and other greenhouse gases from landfills. Composting and anaerobic digestion return nutrients to soils and reduce the need for chemical fertilizers. Recycling reduces the energy and emissions needed to make new products from virgin materials. In short, waste transformation helps both local and global environmental goals.
Practical steps that newspapers, civil society and citizens can push for include: clear data collection and regular publication of waste statistics; city-supported programs that pilot community composting and buy back recyclables at fair prices; training and formalization schemes for informal workers; and public information campaigns that show how simple household actions make a difference. Businesses should be required to reduce packaging and to take part in collection systems; consumers should be offered affordable alternatives to single-use products.
There are economic numbers behind the idea of waste as wealth. When waste is recovered and reprocessed locally, value that would have been lost to landfill remains in the local economy. That creates jobs at every stage of collection, sorting, processing, transport and sales. Small-scale industries using recycled inputs are often labor-intensive, which matters in countries seeking to expand employment for youth and women. Long-term, shifting to circular practices reduces import dependence for raw materials and stabilizes supply chains.
There will be challenges. Establishing collection networks costs money and takes time. Changing behavior is slow. Markets for recyclables can fluctuate. But these are manageable obstacles. The alternative business as usual; means rising cleanup costs, worsening health, lost livelihoods and growing environmental harm. Incremental, well-planned steps that match local capacity can yield steady gains.
The story of waste is not only about what we throw away; it is about what we value. If we value clean streets, healthy children, decent jobs and a sustainable economy, then we must value the materials in our trash. Waste is not merely a public service problem; it is an economic opportunity that can be harnessed for prosperity. With smart policy, investment in people and infrastructure and community engagement, countries can turn landfills into factories, storm drains into clean waterways and informal scavenging into dignified work.
The road ahead calls for collective effort. Authorities should set clear targets, make data public and remove barriers to small enterprises. Businesses should design for reuse and support collection systems. Citizens should separate at source and support local recycling initiatives. Donors and investors should back scalable, low-cost solutions and help formalize informal workers. Newspapers and media should keep the issue visible, report facts and amplify success stories.
In the end, transforming waste into wealth is an idea whose time has come. It speaks to common sense. Why pay to throw away what can be used? Again, to justice, why should the poorest bear the costs of pollution while others profit? It also offers a pathway to jobs, cleaner streets, healthier children and stronger local economies. That is a future worth working for: one where rubbish is no longer a shadow on the city but a source of light and livelihood. The choice is simple: continue to pay the cost of mismanaged waste, or invest a little now to reclaim materials, create jobs and build prosperity from what we once called garbage (Trash to Wealth).
A. A. Tijjani (Sadauki) is the publisher , Apt-Crown Magazine