In Ivory Coast, young people gathered within the "Clean Street" association are cleaning gutters clogged with waste. They are convinced of the need to clean up their environment.
These volunteers chose the Attecoube district to set an example. This densely populated area is part of Greater Abidjan. The Ivorian capital, with its six million inhabitants, produces at least 4,500 tons of household waste per day, according to the National Waste Management Agency.
Mickael Yao founded the Clean Street association after what he described as a disturbing realization.
"I told myself that we have to fight against this (the waste thrown in the streets, editor's note) for good health and also for the future of a country, because any country that wants to be developed must first be clean," he explains.
The waste removed from the drains is packaged in plastic bags. "Clean Street" now has more than 60 members, mainly young people who are easier to mobilize according to its leader.
"You see an adult, even when trying to raise awareness, they'll think it's a child trying to raise awareness. So, they consider it a lack of respect. That's why we're focusing more on young people and also going into different schools to raise awareness among students," emphasizes Mickael Yao.
In recent years, the vast municipal landfill in Akouedo, Abidjan, has been transformed into an urban park and waste is now treated in a modern landfill located on the outskirts of the city.
"I would say that the main scourge is plastic. It's plastic because, whatever efforts are being made by these international operators, who work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to collect all this waste, you can see that all these bags, all these bottles spoil the visual," says Sarah Ouattara, director of the National Waste Management Agency.
A 2013 decree banning plastic bags was still not being enforced in the country.
