The Waste Valorization and the Circular Economy in Algeria: An Overview

Today, the world is facing natural resources and environmental crises. The actual consumption practices in different industries are linear and wasteful, which means that resources are extracted, transformed, consumed, and discarded. The generated waste results in pollution and becomes unmanageable. For this, new concepts have appeared like the circular economy which involves sorting and recycling. Governments have noticed the benefit of the circular economy and this is reflected in laws and policies that have seen the development of eco-material production strategies from industrial waste or natural waste such as dredged sediments. In Algeria, while waste management has evolved in the scientific, technical, and implementation fields, the concept of the circular economy still needs to be enhanced and developed. More comprehensive evaluations need to be carried out, as the United Nations calls it in its sustainable development goals. In this paper, an overview was achieved to shed light on the issues and prospects of optimal waste management and the circular economy development, in Algeria.