GOLD OR GARBAGE

Gone are the days when waste plastic papers would hang on trees, or waste water bottles scattered everywhere.  In today's world, technology has proved that anything can become a source of income.  Interestingly municipal waste is no longer a health hazard but a source of income; only if managed well.

In Africa most dumpsites are open and are not well managed, however we see lots of people hanging around the sites from morning to evening.  They sample together a particular waste which is later collected from the site back to industrial areas.  Some of the waste is very dirty and need to be washed before being transported.  These expose the person working at the dumpsite to various hazards.

Things can be made easier and everyone make money out of what they dispose.  Sorting waste when disposing it is a key process of making recycling a reality and dumpsite a thing of the past.  Waste shopping paper-bags are recycled to something useful i.e. Composite plastic wood, Tshirts, mats carpets etc. and therefore can be disposed off in a separate bin.  This can be combined with waste plastic containers.  Both are sold to waste collectors who particularly are interested with such for manufacturer raw material. The plastic waste cost approximately Ksh.10-15 per KG.  For an average home, plastic waste from HDPE, LDPE and PET plastic containers can sell approximately 20KG per week meaning making KSh300 per week from plastic waste.

Other waste products like metal, cans and electronic waste have ready market and can be disposed off at recommended waste centers.  Soon solid waste will be of high demand to produce organic fertilizer, crude oil and bio-gas. There has been renewed interest in investing in waste management technologies for extracting energy where reuse is not possible.  Do not burn waste rather look for a way of reusing or extracting renewed material from it.  Sort at source to simplify and encourage the process of recycling.