‘Venture into plastic recycling to make money’

Senior Reporter

Recycling of plastic waste offers various economic opportunities that include creation of green jobs, chief director in the Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Professor Prosper Matondi, has said.

He said this yesterday when he appeared before the sitting of the joint parliamentary committees of Environment, Tourism and Climate, and Energy and Power Development.

“There are economy-wide opportunities in the waste beneficiation through value addition and upscaling of the polyethene terephthalate (PET) to a variety of products; back-to-back (bi-directional) value chains are required in this sector because in either way, there are huge economic opportunities for the creation of green jobs, triggering a variety of services with wider benefits,” he said. 

Out of the 1,7 million tonnes of waste generated annually in Zimbabwe, an average of 303 040 tonnes is plastic waste, constituting 18 percent and out of that, solid waste is buried, indiscriminately dumped, burned, and a small percentage is separated and recycled.

Prof Matondi said there was need for industry-wide participation and adequate funding to support growth of the recycling sector, resulting in higher recovery or recycling rates.

“Waste management sector is typically labour intensive and there is opportunity to create a fully-fledged industry with multiplier effects out of the waste problem by investing in downstream industries that feed on the waste material. Plenty of raw materials remain uncollected, making waste clog our cities across the country, despite concerted efforts to clean-up through a National Programme since 2018, led by His Excellency, the President Mnangagwa. 

“Partnerships and collaboration are possible and not fully explored, and there are a few upcoming companies in waste recycling at community level across the country that are a low-hanging fruit for green development,” he said.

The packaging industry is the main component of the plastic sector in Zimbabwe and experience strong annual growth estimated at between 8 to 12 percent. 

Nationally, about 60 percent of plastic generated in urban environments finds its way to municipal landfills while some is dumped illegally on undesignated areas such as storm water drains, open spaces, alleys and road verges.