Living in a clean city is also the responsibility of those who live and work there. What might be considered a truism elsewhere faces some difficulties in Morocco in finding its way into the mentality of many of our fellow citizens. In order to bypass this handicap, the project titled "Coproduction of cleanliness" was launched as part of the National Programme for Household and Similar Waste. After Marrakech and Demnate, it was Khénifra's turn on 16 September to launch its programme through the local section of the Association of Life and Earth Sciences Teachers (Aesvt), residents' associations, the municipality, and local authorities: "It is a participatory approach that involves all social components: associations, building syndicates, schools, mosques, health services, the delegated waste collection company, and competent services," indicates Sif Abdelhaq of the Khénifra section of the Aesvt. The latter specifies that the El Hay El Filahi neighbourhood was chosen as a pilot neighbourhood before the project interests all the neighbourhoods of Khénifra. "The problem of household waste management in Khénifra is similar to that of other cities in the country; anarchy reigns there. At the root of the problem: the absence of sorting, which makes the work of companies in charge of delegated waste management even more complicated. During the launch day, a partnership agreement was signed by the various actors in the city concerned with waste management, who form the steering committee for the establishment of the selective sorting system."

Sustainable waste valorisation

This project, launched within the agricultural neighbourhood in Khénifra, aims to improve "the aesthetics and cleanliness of living spaces, strengthen the values of solidarity and communal living, and mobilise and coordinate the interventions of various actors and partners," assures Sif Abdelhaq, who maintains that the source-sorting system, collection, and sustainable valorisation of household waste will allow for the creation of jobs, in addition to improving the quality of life.

The city of Khénifra is participating, alongside 90 neighbourhoods and 100 schools spread across the national territory, in this project which will last 4 years and will see the organisation of annual competitions, at the regional and national levels, for the benefit of the neighbourhoods and schools in question. Currently, "Morocco produces 5.3 million tonnes/year, which is a ratio of 0.76 kg per inhabitant per day. This waste is very often disposed of in illegal dumps or in black spots or in watercourses without any treatment or control," indicates the National Household Waste Programme, whose objective is to ensure the collection and cleaning of household waste, to reach a collection rate of 90% in 2020, and to create controlled waste landfills for the benefit of all urban centres by 2020. This programme, endowed with a budget of 40 billion DH (2008-2020), has benefited from the support of the World Bank's development policy for the household waste sector through three loans.

A first loan of 100 million euros for the implementation of the actions of the first phase of this programme was granted by the World Bank in 2009, and the second loan of 100 million euros in February 2011. A loan of 100 million euros was also granted to Morocco in 2013.

Cities concerned by the project

Currently, the following cities are concerned by the project: Marrakech, Larache, Khémisset, Fès, Demnate, Casablanca, Béni Mellal, Agadir, Essaouira, Ben Slimane, Tétouan, Tanger, Sefrou, Nador, Mohammedia, Meknès, Safi, El Haouz. The list remains open to cities that meet the conditions for joining the project, such as Ifrane and Al Hoceima.