Open burning of waste has been ranked first among other uPOPs releases in more than 16 African countries and therefore a regional project has been decided upon to mark the cooperation of countries to reduce dioxins and furans emissions by enhancing their existing waste management systems. Waste management is a pressing problem for most governments of the African SADC sub-region because of the general lack of specific infrastructure (sanitary landfills, high temperature waste incinerators, etc.) and insufficient coverage of this topic in the supporting legislations. Some countries are in the process of developing and implementing various municipal waste management strategies and action plans. The common aim at reducing the harmful effects of open burning practices in open dumpsites, where municipal waste is often mixed with other hazardous types of wastes and considered among the main sources of unintentionally produced persistent organic pollutants (uPOPs), has led the participating countries to promote and sustain immediate actions to fully address this issue.

The project objective is to achieve continuing minimization in the release of uPOPs in the open burning sector of participating African countries of SADC region through introduction of best available techniques and best environmental practices (BAT/BEP) at selected priority demonstration sites.