Fighting waste in Africa

This waste management project started its activities in February 2021 and will last for a period of 11 months, until December 2021. It follows the first plastic waste recycling project executed in Heremakono (Mali) and Koloko (Burkina Faso) and is implemented by UNITED-TEAMS – the strategic alliance of the YOU STIFTUNG and HOPE’87.

Waste is an important issue in the project area because the communes of Koloko and Finkolo do not have an operational waste management system, which leads to garbage lying about everywhere in cities and poses a real threat to sanitation and public health. Thus, the project has drawn up a document called the “sanitation inventory” in the two municipalities. This document takes stock of the current sanitation situation, discusses the problems encountered and proposes solutions to improve waste management in the two communes of Finkolo and Koloko. It was drawn up in a participatory manner with the municipalities, the civil society organisations (CSO) and the state technical services and will be the benchmark for actions to be taken for sustainable waste management in the two municipalities.

The project furthermore contributes to improving the know-how regarding the waste disposal system in the two communes, taking into account the environment. Therefore, the sanitation groups were trained and equipped and together with the community leaders, town hall and state services chose the sites for controlled landfill sites in Heremakono and Koloko. Additionally, temporary sites have been identified and created, which were used to store waste of all kinds before the completion of the construction work. With the purchase of an injection moulding machine, the process of producing new items out of recycled waste will be continued.