The industrial untreated wastes in Algeria exceeded the level of 2.5 million tons, including the mercury wastes and more than 15.000 tons of the pharmaceutical waste.

• Although the national plan for the conduct of wastes which was adopted by the Ministry of Environment since 2002, and the completion of a center for destruction worth $10.5 million, and according to statistics by the national survey of wastes, the industrial wastes pose a real threat which requires treatment as soon as possible due to the lack of effective mechanisms in retrieving and eliminating the wastes, especially the poisonous ones, including the “asbestos” which cause cancer and that are used annually with the quantity of 2500 tons in various industries, and is now a major threat to the health of students, particularly that 30% of the schools contain the asbestos, along with mercury wastes estimated by the special services to one million tons.
• On the other hand, the general inventory operations by the specialized bodies, revealed on the stockpile of 3000 tons of the pharmaceutical wastes that are distributed across 500 sites in 43 Algerian localities, with reference to the Algerian industries which produce 60.000 tons of the special waste every year.
• According to information 80% of the quantities are collected by non specialized persons, as they do not go through official services of treatment and elimination of different oils which produce annually 62.000 tons.