Online Reporter
Harmony Agere
JUST a few years ago, the Pomona dumpsite in northern Harare was little more than a festering eyesore — piles of rotting waste smouldered under the sun, fires occasionally broke out and the air reeked of decay.
Children scavenged through the debris while residents complained of foul odours and health hazards that seemed an inevitable part of city life.
Today, the site is now home to Zimbabwe’s first ultramodern waste management facility.
Establishment of the facility is a key step towards turning garbage into power and reshaping urban environmental management.
In a landmark ceremony on Thursday, President Mnangagwa commissioned the Geo Pomona Waste Management sorting plant, together with a new fleet of refuse compactors and tipper trucks, as well as hundreds of skip bins.
The commissioning marked the beginning of an ambitious project to convert Harare’s waste into clean energy.
Speaking at the ceremony, President Mnangagwa said the Government was dedicated to engendering sustainable urban waste management.
“The waste sorting plant is a critical enabler of the waste-to-energy project, which will soon contribute between 16 and 22 megawatts of electricity to the national grid,” he said.
“The responsibility of waste management does not lie with Geo Pomona alone but is the duty of every Zimbabwean.
“As we roll out a modern waste collection system, I urge all residents to desist from illegal dumping.
“Let us embrace a culture of responsible waste disposal, recycling and environmental stewardship in order to realise our goal of a clean, safe and healthy environment.”
The newly commissioned sorting plant marks the first phase of an ambitious waste-to-energy project that promises to reshape how Zimbabwe thinks about garbage.
Rather than viewing waste as a burden, the facility treats it as a valuable resource capable of generating clean power.
The facility’s core function is deceptively simple.
It sorts incoming waste; it separates combustible materials that can be incinerated to produce power in the planned energy generation unit.
With the sorting plant now operational, Geo Pomona Waste Management will move forward with constructing the power facility — a waste-to-energy plant that will process up to 1 000 tonnes of garbage daily to produce electricity.
The vision, according to Geo Pomona chief executive and executive chairperson Dr Dilesh Nguwaya, goes beyond producing power; it is about building a sustainable, replicable waste management model.
“Our upcoming waste-to-energy plant will convert 1 000 tonnes of solid waste daily into clean energy, generating between 16 and 22 megawatts of electricity.
“This initiative exemplifies our commitment to sustainable energy solutions,” he said.
Dr Nguwaya noted that the company’s workforce had more than tripled in 2025 alone, contributing to local job creation and economic growth.
“Our workforce has expanded significantly this year, increasing from 61 to 188 employees.
“This growth creates more opportunities for decent work and contributes to economic growth.”
Reimagining urban waste management
Harare’s waste challenges have long been a source of public frustration.
Illegal dumpsites, inefficient collection and poor landfill management have threatened public health and environmental safety.
Last week, President Mnangagwa also commissioned 45 refuse and tipper trucks, as well as hundreds of skip bins, which will progressively increase to 2 500 by the end of next month.
This logistical upgrade positions Geo Pomona to begin door-to-door waste collection across Harare, a process already underway following the company’s clearance of many illegal dumpsites since February.
The overhaul of Harare’s waste infrastructure is expected to not only reduce litter and disease but also usher in a more efficient, accountable system of urban waste management.
“Geo Pomona has gone a step up because we want to replicate what we are doing in Harare to all the other nine provinces, where we are going to deal with all the refuse waste collection,” said Dr Nguwaya.
“We are going to collect the whole area, and we are going to manage all the waste remaining in the country.”
From dumpsite to power hub
The project also features a strong environmental restoration component.
The facility includes a wastewater treatment system that uses reverse osmosis to purify leachate — a toxic by-product of decomposing waste.
Once treated, this water will support the landscaping of green spaces over
sealed landfill cells, effectively turning degraded land into community-friendly zones.
Already, the reimagined site now includes recreational amenities like sports facilities, offering a rare blend of industrial utility and social benefit.
What was once a toxic no-go zone is fast becoming a hub for clean energy, ecological renewal and urban well-being.
Global partnerships
The project’s success owes much to international cooperation.
A strategic partnership with Türkiye has brought in advanced machinery for waste sorting and encapsulation, while Turkish engineers have been instrumental in training local technicians.
Already, interest in Geo Pomona’s model is growing beyond Zimbabwe’s borders, with countries like Nicaragua exploring similar waste-to-energy solutions.
Such partnerships signal that Zimbabwe’s experiment with turning trash into treasure could soon become a benchmark for sustainable development across the Global South.
