Antananarivo residents sort waste to improve city cleanliness
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Residents in the Ampefiloha Cité and Ambohitrakely neighborhoods of Antananarivo, Madagascar are increasingly sorting their trash.
The Société municipale d’hygiène (SMA) is implementing the Solid Waste Management Improvement Project (Gesda) with support from the Japanese Agency for International Cooperation (Jica) to encourage this behavior. The project focuses on changing long-held habits of discarding all waste together. For over two years, the SMA has educated people about separating biodegradable waste, such as food scraps, from non-biodegradable items like plastics and packaging.
This education is ongoing in Ambohitrakely, where the initiative began in March 2026, and five collection points have been established due to limited vehicle access. In Ampefiloha Cité, approximately 75% of households now sort their waste at the source. SMA staff monitor collection points and help residents understand which materials go in each bin, though some people from outside the neighborhoods still dispose of trash improperly.
Sorted waste can be recycled, composted, or reused to create paving materials, furthering the project’s goals of a cleaner, healthier city.
