Africa is the second populous continent, and its population has the fastest growing rate. Some African countries are still plagued by poverty, poor sanitary conditions and limited resources, such as clean drinking water, food supply, electricity, and effective waste management systems. Underfunded healthcare systems, poor training and lack of awareness of policies and legislations on handling medical waste have led to increased improper handling of waste within hospitals, healthcare facilities and transportation and storage of medical waste. Some countries, including Ethiopia, Botswana, Nigeria and Algeria, do not have national guidelines in place to adhere to the correct disposal of such wastage. Incineration is often the favoured disposal method due to the rapid diminishment of up to 90% of waste, as well as production of heat for boilers or for energy production. This type of method – if not applying the right technologies – potentially creates hazardous risks of its own, such as harmful emissions and residuals. In this study, the sustainability aspects of medical waste management in Africa were reviewed to present resilient solutions for health and environment protection for the next generation in Africa. The findings of this research introduce policies, possible advices and solutions associated with sustainability and medical waste management that can support decision-makers in developing strategies for the sustainability by using the eco-friendly technologies for efficient medical waste treatment and disposal methods and also can serve as a link between the healthcare system, decision-makers, and stakeholders in developing health policies and programmes.

The construction industry is a vital part of every nation’s economy. Construction activities influence the social, environmental, and economic aspects of sustainability. There are so many barriers to sustainable construction and demolition waste management (C&DWM). This study aims to identify barriers for effective sustainable C&DWM in developed and developing countries. To achieve the objective, 11 barriers have been selected and identified based on an excessive and comprehensive literature review, and then reviewed by experts. These reviewed barriers were further examined by various experts within different organizations using a questionnaire survey. Ranking of the barriers was carried out using the Relative Importance Index (RI), and the results were statistically analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Practical solutions were proposed to overcome the identified barriers. The overall ranking of barriers by RI indicates that insufficient attention paid to C&DWM, lack of law enforcement, lack of regulation, and financial constraints represent the four major barriers to sustainable C&DWM in these countries. The findings of this study and the proposed solutions are enablers for decision-makers to develop effective strategies to tackle construction and demolition wastes in sustainable manners.