Towards recycling and waste reduction in Mohammedia, Morocco

Like all municipalities, the city of Mohammedia has to bear a significant cost for the treatment of its waste. In all, €2·72 million has been spent on the collection and processing of 78 608 t of household and similar waste produced in 2013. The urban commune of Mohammedia, which has a daily waste production of 0·807 kg per capita, has been trying to reduce waste production by upstream sorting and recovery; whereas waste reduction is only possible at the source. Treatment processes only could reduce the amount of waste that has to be disposed of. A study of the waste arisings through characterisation of the household waste produced by the city of Mohammedia enabled to know how much waste is generated, how much waste is recyclable, the percentage of fermentable organic materials, the percentage of non-recyclable materials and the estimated cost of disposal of such waste.