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Yeukai Karengezeka-Herald Correspondent
The Dan Church Aid (DCA) has partnered Government in empowering urban communities with skills on recycling waste to improve its management while at the same time creating opportunities to earn an income.
The partnership followed the landmark Waste Management Symposium hosted by DCA in February this year.
The symposium was attended by Government officials, local authority representatives, academics, community leaders and representatives from the private sector and the civil society.
In a statement, DCA country director Mr Mads Lindegard said community members were now aware of the negative effects of waste and were also now processing garbage to boost their income.
“This is about more than simply separating plastics and organic waste. It is about empowering ordinary people by creating a consciousness about the value of what otherwise quickly becomes a source of diseases and vermin,” she said.
Mr Lindegard said the goal of sustainable waste management was to reduce the amount of natural resources consumed, reusing materials taken from nature as much as possible and creating as little final waste as possible.
The waste management programme that is being conducted with Government is improving livelihoods of urban dwellers.
“DCA is achieving sustainable waste management by delivering ‘waste for cash’ training, establishing centres where participating community members can operate with the prerequisite protective equipment, creating a new value system with the community at the centre, revolving around recycling waste,” Ms Lindegard said.
He also said that the programme was meant to restore the dignity of marginalised urban families in alignment with Government’s Vision 2030.
“We seek to restore dignity to marginalised urban households, and if people can appreciate that the solutions to challenges that affect the community are within reach, that is the basis for sustainable action.
“Zimbabweans have always taken pride in their living spaces, and we are hopeful that the value of recycling will complement Government efforts to restore cleanliness and pride in urban communities,” said Mr Lindegard.
Working with local partners, DCA receives funding support from the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), and the UN World Food Programme (WFP).
In recent years heaps of uncollected domestic waste accumulating into stockpiles on the roadside have become common place in urban areas creating fertile breeding grounds for pestilence in communities.
According to global experts by 2028, it is forecast that the global waste recycling services market will have reached almost US$90 billion in value.
Online Reporter