Inside Mbeubeuss: a visit to Senegal’s largest dumpsite

The Mbeubeuss dumpsite in Keur Massar, a suburb of Dakar, is one of the largest open-air landfills in West Africa. Recently, several YouTube videos and documentaries have discussed its potential closure, rehabilitation, and relocation. The After the Single Use project in Senegal focuses on the life cycle (production, use, disposal) of single-use medical materials and analyses their environmental impact. Since Mbeubeuss is a key site for our research, we were eager to visit the only waste disposal site in the Dakar region, which receives thousands of tons of household waste per day. This scoping visit aimed to gather background information to understand the environment for our planned research.

Thanks to our community mediator, a former waste picker who now serves as a liaison in the rehabilitation of the dumpsite, we got to visit Mbeubeuss. He will support the research team by identifying potential interview participants within the waste-picker community and by facilitating focus group discussions.We were ready to face the unsanitary conditions, the foul smells, and to discover with curiosity and anticipation the largest dumpsite in Senegal. We were told that the site covers 115 hectares. It was initially intended as a temporary solution while awaiting an alternative for household waste disposal, but since 1970 it has served as the only dumpsite for the Dakar region (the capital of Senegal, with 3,896,564 inhabitants in 2023). The dumpsite receives an average of 3,800 tons of waste per day. Waste is transported by 480 to 500 truck rotations. The trucks operate under the supervision of the National Agency for Integrated Waste Management (SONAGED), which is funded through a national household waste tax.

The trucks carry out pre-collection at waste collection points located in the fourteen districts of Dakar. After travelling through the city’s streets to collect waste, the trucks enter the dumpsite and must present a zone ticket. They then drive to the weighbridge. Inspectors verify the nature of the waste. Senegalese law prohibits mixing infectious waste with household waste. Thus, trucks carrying bags of biomedical waste are supposed to be stopped. The weight of the truck before and after unloading is recorded in software that determines the exact amount of waste deposited by each truck. The weighing process is also used to calculate waste volume for billing purposes.

After speaking with the director of the dumpsite—who was open to our research and granted us permission to visit the “platform” for an initial scoping visit —we drove several kilometres along a road made of piled waste.

Before 2020, our collaborators explained that waste was increasingly accumulating horizontally toward the lake, causing overflow and flooding in surrounding neighbourhoods. But since 2020, a “cake” has been constructed to stack the waste vertically in the form of a flat-topped mound, known as the platform. The waste storage method has been modified. Ramps of 18 to 20 meters were built to store waste at height. Additionally, a layer of waterproof membrane and then a layer of vegetation were placed underneath this “cake” to prevent rainwater from infiltrating the waste and seeping into the soil and groundwater. We then found ourselves on top of the platform, where it was difficult to stand, our feet sinking into the waste.

On the “platform”: the waste dumping area

On the platform, we observed trucks reversing one after another and unloading “fresh” waste. Some of the younger male waste pickers pushed and rushed toward the moving trucks to grab the most valuable items. Guides from the Coordination Unit for Solid Waste Management (UCG) manage and supervise the movement of vehicles. They direct truck drivers to the platform. Men, women, and children were present: some searching and sorting through waste piles on the sides, others waiting for the next trucks, and others sitting or queuing at the entrance of the platform in small “canteens” (plastic tents with wooden benches) where one can buy food and drink coffee. Cows and many birds were feeding.

On the ground, we observed two plastic medical syringes. We discreetly asked our collaborator whether he had ever seen biomedical waste here on the platform. He told us they regularly find dead infants and are obliged to alert the authorities. He also explained that certain glass medical bottles are sought after because they can be resold individually for 1,500 FCFA (about 2.3 euros). Our collaborator is aware that the presence of biomedical waste is prohibited, but he explained that such waste arrives mixed with household waste and that it is almost impossible to trace its origin.

The Mbeubeuss Rehabilitation Project: PROMOGED

On our way back down from the platform, we observed waste sorting activities involving piles or sacks of scrap metal, plastic, jerrycans, tin cans, rice bags, etc. Before leaving the dumpsite, we went to speak with members of PROMOGED in charge of rehabilitating Mbeubeuss. The Government of Senegal, together with the World Bank, the French Development Agency and Spanish Cooperation, launched the Integrated Solid Waste Management and Circular Economy Program in Senegal (PROMOGED).

The project began in 2021 for a duration of five years. It includes the construction of two plants: one automated sorting plant and one composting plant on the first 40 hectares of the dumpsite. This helped us better understand the piled sand and gravel we had seen. PROMOGED is also active in other regions of Senegal with two waste treatment centres in Sébikotane and Bambilor. Because the sorting plant will significantly disrupt the work of the waste pickers—who will no longer be able to find valuable items and resell them—numerous protests and dissatisfaction have emerged. Our collaborator play a mediating role between PROMOGED and the waste pickers. Aware of the consequences the project will have on the informal economy of the dumpsite, PROMOGED identified 5,800 waste pickers and planned training or compensation programmes. Some will be trained and employed in the new plants.

Biomedical waste from Health Facilities found in Mbeubeuss

Two weeks after our visit, we received photos and live videos of biomedical waste that had just been dumped by a health facility whose origin he could not trace. The photo, in which we can see a large quantity of various biomedical waste items—syringes, masks, blood bags, IV tubes, soiled cotton—proves that despite the fact that the dumpsite is supposed to receive only household waste, some health facilities still dispose of their waste there.