Africa's urban waste crisis is outpacing infrastructure investment and choking neighborhoods

JOHANNEBURG -- Two men sit on top of a hill at the end of a narrow road in Johannesburg ’s industrial suburb of Kya Sands. But the hill is no natural feature — it is a mountain of illegally dumped trash, piled so high it now swallows the road beyond.

“When I started as a ward councilor in 2021, this mountain was very small. I could even drive my vehicle down this road,” municipal councilor Devon Steenkamp told The Associated Press. “It’s now quite a high, big mountain; there are always constant fumes.”

The mound is only the edge of a dumpsite that mushroomed after the municipal landfill reached capacity and closed in 2010. Adjacent to it, waves of waste spread across a valley as smoke rises and trucks unload more trash.

Johannesburg’s mounting waste problem reflects a broader challenge across Africa. Rapidly growing cities, including Lagos, Dakar, and Accra, are generating waste far faster than many municipalities can collect, recycle, or safely dispose of it.

Africa’s urban population is projected to double by 2050 to 1.4 billion people, according to a joint report last year by the OECD, African Development Bank, Cities Alliance and United Cities and Local Governments of Africa.

The United Nations Environment Program estimates that more than 90% of waste generated in Africa is disposed of at uncontrolled dumpsites and landfills, often with associated open burning. The World Bank projects that waste generation in sub-Saharan Africa will increase by 124% between now and 2050 — the fastest growth of any region.

Over 2,000 illegal dumping hot spots

In Johannesburg's densely populated Alexandra township, goats forage through piles of household waste as residents navigate sidewalks strewn with plastic, food scraps, and construction debris.

Local resident Linda Makole, 75, is especially concerned about children, many of whom live in one-room homes and rely on sidewalks and a few parks for space to play.

“Small children can’t possibly be healthy living in this environment,” Makole told the AP. “Weekly, my landlord takes all his tenants’ garbage in a van and goes to dispose of it,” she said. “I don’t know where he dumps it.”

Pikitup, the city’s waste company, has identified more than 2,000 illegal dumping hot spots and allocated 115 million rand ($6.4 million) in 2025/26 to tackle the problem.

Some residents said their garbage went uncollected for up to four weeks. The Johannesburg Crisis Alliance has blamed the disruptions on labor disputes, financial constraints, and an aging fleet.

Unreliable waste collection has driven demand for informal waste haulers.

“If the municipality is not collecting the general waste, then of course people are going to phone anybody with a truck to come and collect,” said Carmen Jordaan, who co-runs Whole Earth Recycling.

Jordaan said that legal disposal required registration and landfill fees, prompting some informal haulers to dump waste illegally in areas like Kya Sands.

Polluting the air, soil, and water

Bryce McCall, a former South African equestrian show jumper, has watched a separate dumpsite sprawl alongside his home, where he runs a stables and beekeeping business.

“I used to have 70 horses here; now we’ve got 28,” McCall said. “Clients don’t want to come here anymore.”

Illegal dump sites also burn trash to make room for more, polluting the air, soil, and water and exposing nearby communities to toxic substances, Jordaan warned. “You’re burning toxic plastics, and we’re all inhaling that,” she said.

“At night, the air is so toxic you can’t breathe. We’ve got air purifiers in our bedroom,” McCall said. “The air quality is so bad (bees) don’t produce as they should.”

Dr. Suzan Oelofse, a principal scientist at South Africa’s Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), said that poorly managed waste also attracts vermin and can clog stormwater drains, increasing the risk of flooding.

‘It’s really, really close to tipping point’

“The waste generation rate has consistently outpaced investment in new waste management infrastructure,” Oelofse said, adding that the city remains heavily dependent on aging landfill sites while recycling and composting lack momentum.

South Africa’s draft National Waste Management Strategy warns that landfill space is depleting at an “unsustainable rate.” The pressure is already evident in Johannesburg, where only two of the city’s four municipal landfills still accept general waste.

Oelofse said a recent CSIR study found that on average, Johannesburg’s landfills have less than a year of disposal capacity remaining.

“If we’ve got years, we’re lucky,” Jordaan said. “It’s really, really close to that tipping point.”

Simply building more landfills is difficult because suitable land is scarce and environmental regulations are stringent.

Keeping waste out of landfills

Oelofse estimates that as much as 80% of Johannesburg’s waste could be diverted through recycling and organic waste treatment if households and businesses separated waste at the source.

Pikitup is also pushing separation at the source to preserve dwindling landfill space, with plans to expand recycling infrastructure and collaborate with waste reclaimers.

Recycler and law student Nomvula Phaliso, 35, said waste pickers are already helping keep recyclable material out of landfills but need greater support, including safe access to bins, community buy-back centers, protective equipment and storage.

For Jordaan, keeping waste out of landfills also requires changing how people think about what they throw away.

“People think, ‘Get rid of it.’ But where is it going?”

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