Initiated by the University of Lomé, in collaboration with ENPRO, the Togo-based NGO and operator of door-to-door pre-collection of waste, the composting unit aims at growing its activities and becoming financially self-sufficient by 2015.
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Located in the heart of the Bamiléké country, which is well known for its intensive market gardening agriculture, the composting unit established by ERA Cameroon and by the Mayor’s office of Dschang will soon be expanding.
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The Africompost Project is led by the GoodPlanet-Gevalor consortium in collaboration with ETC Terra. It offers to improve waste management by developing organic waste composting in 6 African cities. The sorting and the composting allow an improvement in the local processing of household waste whilst reducing its impact on the environment. Furthermore, the production of compost contributes to local agricultural development and the creation of jobs for the most disadvantaged populations.
After a first investment and empowerment phase, the financial sustainability of the composting units will be assured by the combined sale of compost and of methane emission reductions provided by the controlled processing of waste. [Learn More]
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After extracting the organic substances to be used in composting, a major proportion of the residual household refuse consist of plastic materials, which are often soiled soft polyester bags and occasionally PVC bags. But the classic procedures for recycling plastics using re-usable resins like virgin resin are, difficult to implement with these types of products, as they require a clean raw material which can only be obtained from these bags by means of washing them with a solution containing chemical elements. This washing process would be complex and wasteful.
Gevalor with its partner MADACOMPOST has therefore developed another approach, which consists in using this plastic as a binder in a way similar to cement, in order to form building units such as paving stones or bricks obtained after moulding the melted material after fusion and being mixed with sand.
A semi-industrial production is being set-up at Mahajanga with MADACOMPOST thanks to financing from the Passemar Fund and to the Latécoère Prize.
Research and development work is ongoing in order to improve the fire resistance of these building units, which will in particular allow the production of tiles.
It is also considered to use this material for the construction of paving stones.
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Every composting unit generates major positive impacts in several areas:
Impact on the local environment: the proliferation of uncontrolled landfill sites is a scourge of urban development that is accentuated alongside the increase of population. Cities, which have only limited budgets available, can only collect a part of the waste and are rarely able to finance any controlled landfill operation. Uncontrolled refuse development creates a breeding ground for carriers of diseases (rats and mosquitoes) and they permanently pollute the soil, the watercourses and tap water. Urban drainage networks are blocked by plastic bags. With the composting of the organic portion of the waste and to the recycling of recoverable waste (in particular of plastics), the projects that are supported by Gevalor allow local authorities to reduce transportation costs resulting from the sending to landfill a reduced volume of waste. This improvement in waste management contributes to cleaning-up the urban environment and to offering populations a more pleasant and safe quality of life.
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