Algerians throw more than 900 million loaves of bread per year. This was revealed by a report from the National Waste Agency (AND) published yesterday, Thursday, December 22, 2022.
Overall, the quantity of household waste produced in Algeria during the year 2021 was estimated at 11.1 million tons. This represents an average of 0.68 kg of waste per day and per person (250 kg/year). However, compared to the period before the COVID-19 pandemic, the figure has dropped by 12%.
The AND study, which is the first of its kind in Algeria, was conducted on a sample of 35,754 households, 177,972 people, 2,262 economic and administrative entities, spread over 10 wilayas in the country (5 in the north, 3 from the highlands, and 2 from the south).
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In 2019, before the health crisis, it was estimated that the production of household and similar waste in Algeria amounted to 12.6 million tonnes (0.8 kg/d/person). The 12% drop recorded in 2021 is equivalent to 1 million tonnes less waste.
What about the waste of bread in Algeria?
With regard to the sensitive issue of waste of breadthe AND manager revealed that Algerians waste the equivalent of 912 million chopsticks (more than 2.5 million per day)! If we divide this figure by the total number of inhabitants (45 million), we realize that each Algerian throws in the trash 20 baguettes per year.
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In more detail, the total annual volume of bread wasted reaches 227,906 tons, or 14 grams per day per person. This quantity represents 0.92% of total household waste.
Each Algerian throws 20 baguettes of bread into the trash a year.
As a reminder, in April 2021, the president of the National Federation of Bakers announced that of the 50 million baguettes of bread that Algeria produces every day, more than 20%, i.e. 10 million, end up in public landfills. If we believe this figure, the quantity of bread wasted each year in Algeria would be, hold on to this, 3,650,000,000 baguettes!
Who are the biggest waste producers in the world?
Furthermore, the study indicates that small households generate more waste than large ones. In addition, the wilaya which produces the greatest quantity of waste per inhabitant is Oran; the one that produces the least is Adrar.
Regarding waste recovery, Akila Boudraa specified that the national rate reached 9.83% in 2020. However, the Ministry of the Environment aims to increase this rate to 30% by 2035.
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Finally, you should know that humanity generates almost 2 billion tons of waste strong every year. China, with 395 million tonnes, ranks first. The United States arrives at the 2e place with 265 million tons. Algeria, as a reminder, in product, 11 million “only”, we almost want to say…
World map of waste generation. Algeria is in the middle. (Source: Statistics)
In terms of the quantity of waste per inhabitant, these are the Americans who come first with an annual average of 812 kg (2.2 kg/d). European women generate 500 kg of waste per person each year (1.2 kg/d). As for the Algerians, as we have seen above, they produce 250 kg of waste per year, or 0.68 kg/d/person.
