In Summary:
- In a Ministry of Information press conference, the Mayor of Monrovia claimed that plastic makes up about 20% of the waste composition in Liberia
- We have fact-checked the claim by reviewing all publicly available data
- We found no evidence to support the claim made by Mayor John Siafa
On February 4, John Siafa, the Mayor of the City of Monrovia, claimed in a Ministry of Information Press Briefing that plastic makes up 20% of Liberia’s waste composition.
Mayor Siafa made the claim while discussing the efforts the city corporation is making to tackle waste management in the city.
Claim
“Based on the waste composition, plastic waste makes roughly about 20% of the waste”.
Rating Justification
To fact-check this claim, we first contacted Mayor Siafa’s office to share the source of the data cited. The MCC and Mayor Siafa did not respond to our inquiry. When they do, we will update this report.
We also reviewed the website of the MCC website specifically the Waste Management section but did not find data on Liberia’s waste composition.
Further research also found a June 2023 World Bank Group publication tagged the National Overview of Plastic Life Cycle, Governance and Initiatives in Liberia.
The publication reveals that Liberia generates 0.44kg of municipal solid waste per capita per day and plastic accounts for approximately 14% of the daily waste accumulated in the country.
In addition, the Environmental Protection Agency in a 2024 article quoted data from the World Bank 2023 states that Liberia generates approximately 1.5 million kilograms of solid waste daily, with a waste generation rate of 0.44 kg per capita per day.
A UNDP article published by Louise Kuukpen, UNDP Liberia’s Resident Representative, also shows that plastic accounts for approximately 14% of the daily municipal solid waste in Liberia.
Conclusion
Based on this, we conclude that there is no evidence to back the claim made by Mayor John Saifa that plastic makes up 20% of Liberia’s waste composition. All available statistics from the World Bank and other sources put plastic waste at 14% of daily waste generated in the country.
Please note that once the MCC provides the statistics to validate the mayor’s claim, we will update this report.
