Health, pollution and the environment
The problem of pollution, and plastics pollution in particular, remains a major challenge facing the whole world and Algeria is no exception. Young people and all populations across Algeria and even international observers have expressed their concerns and called out an urgent need for recycling, reduction of plastic use, and a successful waste management strategy. Plastic bags can take up to hundreds of years to decompose, bottles even longer, and only a fraction of these are recycled. Algeria is the world’s fifth greatest consumer of plastic bags. Whilst bags may degrade quicker than other materials, they make up a significant proportion of freshwater and maritime pollution, breaking down into microplastics and entering the food chain through fish.
According to the Minister for Environment Dalila Boudjemaa, in 2021, Algeria uses nearly 7 billion plastic bags annually, and she has called for new legislation to protect health and the environment. In recent years, there have been moves to support entrepreneurs to invest in recovery and recycling of plastic waste, particularly small and medium sized enterprises. Yet the challenges remain significant.
Our recent interviews with youth, social entrepreneurs, climate activists and environmental associations across Algeria, have underlined how important this issue is for young people. They are on the front line, trying to find solutions, to tackle the root causes as well the symptoms of the problem.
Recycling solutions to the Plastics Problem
Many young Algerians are taking on this problem. We have been overwhelmed by the energy, ideas, activities, and innovation of young people.
Hicham Difallah is an inspiring example of this. As the founder of a dynamic new social enterprise EL KOFFA, Hicham has been deeply committed to sustainable solutions for a number of years now. EL KOFFA [ القفّة ] is an Arabic word for a large, durable and sustainable Algerian traditional basket or bag which was used in Algeria by older generations before plastic bags came to dominate the scene. The idea was an inspiration for EL KOFFA business to be born.
After several bootcamps and training events, active participation in environmental associations, and acting as an environmental ambassador for Algeria, Hicham participated in a competition sponsored by the US embassy in Algiers on Algerian television called Andi Hulum – I have a dream. Here he presented his idea to reclaim plastic bags from which the component of polypropylene can be extracted. This component in plastic would take far shorter time to decompose, say 20-30 years. After winning the competition, he had the opportunity to travel to the US for his incubation where he was able to learn from new technologies and find the means to reduce this time to less than one year.
Returning to Algeria, El Koffa is now a legally registered social enterprise contributing to the circular economy. It is creating jobs, reducing plastic waste and producing reusable and eco-friendly bags for consumers inspired from traditional Algerian baskets.
Education for the environment
Having studied a Masters in Educational Psychology and Didactics, Hicham insists on the importance of working with the education sector to raise environmental awareness and to encourage children to respect and be more responsible of their local environment. This includes also protecting their spaces from plastic pollution and encourage innovative ways of recycling plastic at schools.
As part of a previous project, he had aimed to use recycled materials to create new play areas for children in his hometown. The plan was to build equipment and a safe space for kids to play using entirely recycled plastics. Unfortunately, due to a change in decision makers, support for the project was withdrawn but he remains hopeful about the potential of such initiatives to make an impact on different levels. For Hicham,
there are many different initiatives launched around Algeria, locally and at a national level, but they are still not enough compared to the harm people exercise every day on the environment
Hicham Difallah, Social Entrepreneur, founder of El Koffa
He calls for a united front to influence behaviour change at the grassroots level, starting with family and friends, and from his experience, this really works:
after a life changing training with the association Oxy-Jeunes, I started by changing myself. I stopped throwing plastic bags or other waste in the street, and as a way to change the social behaviour in my own community, I started with my family and friends… this behaviour is obvious, but we do not do it
Hicham calls for further similar opportunities that can inform and support young people, and help change behaviour:
it was these opportunities: volunteering, bootcamps and events that helped me develop to where I am now… without these, I could not have developed my simple idea into a project and a start-up… I would say that these events and bootcamps on the environment have given me 50 % of the motivation that I now have to try to solve environmental issues in Algeria
Travelling to Oran, Tunisia and later the US, Hicham was able to learn from different industries, friends and colleagues before returning to launch his project back home. Tackling different challenges simultaneously was important for him – ‘creating youth employment, supporting innovation, reducing plastic pollution and providing alternatives are all key,’ Hicham told us, to tackling the multiple challenges which will ultimately face Algerian youth.
Protecting the natural world and ourselves
The menace of plastic pollution remains a serious threat to our public health and to other animals and ecosystems. In overcoming these challenges and protecting nature, we are also protecting our own health. The UK plastic bag charge of only 5 pence, led to a 85% reduction in just the first six months, raised significant funds for charity and local communities and created significant behaviour change.
In our discussions, Hicham insisted on the need for strong policy legislation, fines or other mechanisms to encourage people to make better choices and be more responsible of the environment. He insisted that a real change needs to come from both societal and policy levels to encourage social entrepreneurs and climate activists. He further added that it is vital and urgent to act at all levels if we want to leave a viable environment for future generations in Algeria and everywhere.
Post prepared by Sarra- Menal Ferkache following our interview with Hicham Difallah about his journey and EL KOFFA social enterprise.
