Suburban
Given the challenges facing Harare City Council in collecting refuse from residents’ and other ratepayers’ properties, recycling of waste and exploring ways of limiting the waste is the only viable option left.
Harare residents have complained for long periods about the erratic refuse collection or at times failure by council to remove garbage from their properties. This is just one aspect of service delivery where council has been found wanting.
On a weekly basis city authorities publish refuse collection schedules in addition to a number of blitz it claims to be carrying out but it is increasingly becoming clear the City of Harare’s incapacitation is far from being solved.
While council has been struggling to collect refuse, some residents and organisations have embarked on campaigns to recycle waste and also cut down on the amount of waste produced in homes and at business premises. Some of the organisations and individuals are doing this as part of their noble initiatives to protect the environment from waste pollution.
In Emerald Hill, a recycling centre has been established to promote recycling as well as help residents manage their waste from the source, that is the households. Separating waste at home for example putting glass on its own, plastic on its own, metal and paper is an effective way of reducing the amount of rubbish getting to Pomona dumpsite. Some food left overs and off cuts from vegetables and fruits can be made into a compost for use in the garden.
Sorting and separation of waste goes a long way in reducing the amounts of waste or rubbish in our bins. Sorting and separation ensures recyclable waste such as plastic bottles, bottles, wood and paper are put on their own and taken or sold to recycling companies.
Re-using these materials significantly reduces the amount of litter or rubbish which has been to be taken to dumpsites in the city. Some of the solid waste can also be turned into energy at waste to energy transfer centres.
Although spearheaded by a private company and some volunteers, the Emerald Hill recycling project seems a step in the right direction because it has managed to get the buy-in of key stakeholders in waste management such as the City of Harare itself and the Environmental Management Agency. We have previously called on the City of Harare to get interested in the recycling campaigns which in the past few years have been the initiative of residents and some organisations working to protect the environment.
We are glad council and EMA are involved in the Emerald Hill recycling project and there is even talk that should the initiative succeed it could be replicated in other suburbs in Harare before being implemented in other towns and cities and help the country protect the environment through sustainable waste management. Council and EMA are big stakeholders when it comes to the protection of the environment and their participation in the Emerald Hill recycling project is a welcome development.
