Faced with the growing scale of plastic pollution, Morocco is now tackling this challenge by focusing on raising awareness and reducing waste at source to protect the environment. The targeted pilot market, located in the Rabat–Salé–Kenitra region, is a hub of daily consumption, characterised by a heavy reliance on single-use plastic packaging. Plastic bags, disposable trays and single-use containers are widely used there for the sale of fish, dry goods, fruit and vegetables, as well as drinks, generating significant volumes of waste that are difficult to collect and recycle.
This pilot project aims to reduce single-use plastic packaging at source within a local market in the Rabat–Salé–Kénitra region. It is based on the implementation of appropriate reuse solutions, combined with positive incentive mechanisms to encourage behavioural change.
The initiative relies on the involvement of local stakeholders, particularly traders and sellers of plastic bags, to jointly develop sustainable alternatives. The aim is to demonstrate that a plastic-free market model can be viable, replicable and beneficial to the whole community.
“With the Zero Waste Skhirat project, we want to demonstrate that it is possible to achieve a tangible reduction in single-use plastic packaging in traditional Moroccan markets through simple, realistic solutions tailored to local practices. By working directly with merchants, citizens and stakeholders already present within the local ecosystem – including the informal sector – the project aims to gradually trial alternatives based on reuse and waste reduction, such as the use of reusable containers, deposit-return schemes, and solutions tailored to the fruit and vegetable, dry goods and fish sectors.
Traditional markets are a key lever for action as they account for high daily consumption of disposable packaging whilst being places deeply rooted in local economic and social life. Beyond the pilot project carried out in Skhirat, the aim is to identify the most effective and socially acceptable solutions so that this model can be adapted and gradually replicated in other regions of Morocco facing the same challenges in reducing plastic waste.” Nadir Sinaceur, President – Zero Waste Skhirat
