Policy Brief No 1​

Plastic Pollution in Senegal: From Law to Action, Building Local Governance for a Circular Future

On the occasion of World Environment Day 2025, Vox Agency organized a webinar bringing together institutional, associative, and community stakeholders to collectively reflect on the fight against plastic pollution. This policy brief summarizes the key findings, synthesizes concrete proposals, and formulates recommendations for decision-makers.

World Place​
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According to Africa Carbon and Commodities, Senegal, with a population of 17 million inhabitants, is ranked 21st among the main countries contributing to ocean plastic pollution, with 254,700 tons of plasticwaste discharged.

Mismanaged plastic waste
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A total of 80 to 90% of plastic waste is mismanaged, often ending up in landfills, in nature, orin the ocean.

Tons of plastic waste per year
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The Senegal produces each year between more than 250,000 and more than 270,000 tons of plastic waste, with a large portion coming from Dakar.

Plastic waste are in Dakar(Capital)
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In Dakar, approximately 50% of the 250,000 tons of plastic waste produced annually in Senegal are generated, according to a coordinator from the Ministry of the Environment.

Executive Summary

Plastic pollution is currently a major environmental and societal challenge in Senegal. Each year, over 250,000 tons of plastic waste are produced in Senegal only one-third to one-quarter is recycled (~36,000 tons, or 14.5%), while the remainder clutters streets, beaches, gutters, and landfills, jeopardizing biodiversity, public health, and the emerging circular economy (World Bank report, DIREC, CINU Dakar).

Despite the enactment of significant legal frameworks particularly Law No. 2020-04 prohibiting certain single-use plastics implementation remains incomplete, and tangible results are marginal.

During the webinar held on June 5, 2025, engaged practitioners highlighted often isolated local efforts, strong structural constraints, and an urgent need for coherence between legal frameworks, political will, community education, and incentivizing taxation.

Through this brief, Vox Agency advocates for an integrated approach based on three levers: local anchoring, shared responsibility, and a cultural transformation in our relationship with plastic.