Inventory of agricultural plastic waste management in Gharb Loukkos – Frezna

As part of its National Strategy for Sustainable Development (NSSD), Morocco has committed to address waste management by transitioning to a circular economy model. This commitment is reflected in Law No. 28-00 on waste management and elimination, including agricultural waste.

Agricultural waste, particularly agricultural plastic, is an environmental concern that threatens ecosystems as well as the food chain. As a result, government officials and civil society are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of creating systems for managing and recovering agricultural waste.

As part of the “Frenza” project—launched in 2017 by the German Agency for International Development Cooperation (GIZ) in collaboration with the Danone Ecosystem Fund, DanTrade, Dirafrost, and Messem to promote sustainable local strawberry production—ACS was contracted to conduct a study aimed at structuring the management of agricultural plastic waste from red fruit crops in the Gharb-Loukkos region.

ACS established an assessment of the informal plastic waste management market in the region, identifying the different actors that dominate this sector as well as the plastic waste generated annually by red fruit production in the Gharb-Loukkos region. These preliminary results allowed ACS to set up a suitable strategy to structure and formalize the management of agricultural plastics while preserving the human and socio-economic aspect of the current market for the different stakeholders concerned.

Client: German Agency for International Development Cooperation (GIZ)

  • Duration: 2021

Activities

  • Quantified plastic waste deposits generated by the production of red fruits in the Gharb-Loukkos region;
  • Established simulations of plastic waste deposits evolution in the region by 2030;
  • Assessed the current life cycles of the different types of plastic waste detected in the Gharb-Loukkos region;
  • Proposed recommendations on the feasibility of creating a management system for agricultural plastic waste based on feedback from private and public stakeholders.