Centre 4 Zero Waste & Development in Africa

Once a law on a total ban on single-use plastics in Zambia is enacted, it will greatly benefit the environment. Flooding will be reduced, water quality will be improved, air and soil quality will be improved and wildlife as well as marine life will be protected. The ‘Kicking the Bags Out’ campaign also encourages the creation of local green jobs for women and youth.

The waste problem of Africa

Poor waste management practices, in particular the widespread dumping of wastes in water bodies and uncontrolled dump sites, aggravates the problems of generally low sanitation levels across the African continent. The gap between waste management policy and legislation and actual waste management practices is widening, due to ongoing capacity constraints or non-existence of waste management facilities for the different waste streams. Resolving this capacity gap will require major investments and access to technical know-how.

Zambia is being drowned in plastic waste. With the recent EPR and ban on 30 microns of plastic bags, this country still faces a huge waste management challenge.

A particular problem in the waste stream is plastics, particularly polythene bags. They impact both the environment and health of humans and animals. For one, drainage systems continue to get clogged by plastic bags every year, contributing to flooding. Plastics particularly PVC, when burned result in emissions of a toxin named dioxin and furan. Dioxins are chemical contaminants that accumulate in the food chain, mainly in the fatty tissue of animals, and cause serious health issue in humans, such as cancer.

Waste management and the SDGs

The newly adopted Sustainable Development Goals that will replace the Millennium Development Goals provide a generational opportunity to address the lingering problems the world still faces following the MDGs. The most applicable SDGs in addressing waste management issues in human settlements are:

• Goal 11 “make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable” Target 11.6 “by 2030, the world should reduce the adverse per capital environmental impact of cities, including by paying special attention to air quality, municipal and other waste management”; and
• Goal 12 “Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns”, Target 12.5 “By 2030, substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse”.

It is against this background that the Centre for Zero Waste and Development in Africa (CZWDA) seeks to engage the general public, the private sector, organizations, policy makers and local government in sustainable Zero Waste strategies that will urgently address the challenges the waste management systems in Africa face. Centre for Zero Waste & Development (CZWD) was an initiative of Youth Environment Network (YEN) Zambia and was founded in Washington, DC in 2013 by Billy Mwansa Lombe after analysing plastic bag bans/fees ordinances in developing countries and that of United States of America.

The Centre for Zero Waste & Development in Africa (CZWDA) is committed to encouraging composting and compost use as a key sustainability strategy to create employment, improve soil vitality, protect watersheds, reduce storm water run-off and erosion, cut waste, avoid landfill methane emissions, save local governments and businesses money, as well as build resilient local economies.

The ‘Master Compost Training Programme’ is a train-the-trainer programme in which graduates teach others how to compost as well as the benefits of improving soil quality with compost. Importantly they also create a community composting demonstration project (also called a capstone project).

By advancing composting and compost use, The Centre for Zero Waste & Development in Africa (CZWDA) seeks to encourage proper composting methods and help community members increase the amount of available compost in particular cities and regions around Africa. This serves as a means of improving soils for local healthy food production. It further benefit communities through green job training and creation.

By making recommendations to the Zambian government, The Centre for Zero Waste & Development in Africa (CZWDA) through its ‘Sitifuna Ma plastics’ project aims to:

• Review lacunas in Zambia’s EPR Regulations Statutory Instrument (SI) No 65 of 2018, ban 30 micron plastic carrier bags and further provide recommendations to the regulatory authority for better inspections and enforcements, pushing for a total ban on single-use plastics bags.
• Successfully raise awareness on the dangers of single-use plastic bags
• Produce a short documentary on the illegal manufacture, sale and use of 30 microns and below single-use plastics.

Potential projects under the zero waste skills empowerment initiative

• Basket making
• Clothing sales and sewing goods
• Up-cycling
• Re-using and re-cycling of plastic waste and other clothing materials
• Kitchen gardens and honey production.

In addition, The Centre for Zero Waste & Development in Africa (CZWDA) has designed these projects to stimulate ideas, fulfill start-up needs and train people how to manage such projects and businesses. CZWDA has targeted 3,000 people (such as waste pickers) to benefit in the next 3 years.