Garbage collection which is a massive menace in different cities in the country could be history if government and the private sector embrace recycling as opposed to dumping the refuse to keep the cities clean but also making money out of what seems to be a dirty job.
A visit to VEOLIA waste management and recycling company site outside France’s capital Paris was an eye opener that, when collected and recycled garbage can turn out to be a very lucrative . The privately owned company Veolia’s Plessis Gassot center is one of the biggest waste recycling and treatment center in Europe turning garbage into a money minting venture. According to Mr. Yann Fourreau the site director, the Plessis Gassot center a former quarry site receives 3500 tons of waste materials every day.
The rubbish is recycled in systematic manner to produce electric energy from biogas which is distributed on the national grid. The Plessis Gassot center in the greater Paris region produces 130,000 MWh of electricity every year that is consumed by 41,200 households excluding heating. 400 trucks collect garbage from the entire municipality of Paris and delivered at the recycling plant on a daily basis
The non dangerous waste including news papers, plastics, tin cans metals, wood and glass are sorted and dumped in a huge pit and covered with sand to avoid papers and plastics from flying away, The pit is lined with a black thick polythene. Tractors are then driven over the site to reduce the volume of the rubbish. The garbage is then buried 4 meters deep in the ground where it is left to decompose.
After decomposition pipes are fixed at the site to collect the biogas which is transferred to another site where it is distributed to the national greed. ” With that waste we produce biogas which is used to produce electricity which is injected in the French network” said Remi Bougarel, Development director Veolia Africa.
It is hard to smell any stench from the plant which Mr. Bougarel says it’s possible through treating waste.
“ There are only three very small villages around the plant, we are far away from the Paris dense areas, even when some smell arise in summer, we use dedicated products to treat the waste and spray the area with perfume” he said
In Uganda Veolia is designing the Nakivubo Waste water treatment plant in Bugoloobi under the Lake Victoria Protection II Project.
Patrick Couznet VEOLIA CEO for Africa explains told Capital radio reporter during a to visit to the company’s head office in Paris –France that this plant will treat waste water to ensure that there is no additional pollution of Lake Victoria from the Nakivubo channel and Kinawataka which are major sour of waste in Kampala.
In addition upon completion, the plant will also be treating sewage from Kampala “Currently sewage from many properties in Kampala finds its way to the Nakivubo channel and Victoria Lake without being treated” Mr. Couznet revealed. He named city sews and Nakivubo channel as the major sources of sewage Veolia a global leader in optimized resource managements employs more than 200,000 employees worldwide. It designs and provides water, water, and energy management solutions for sustainable development of communities and industries.
BY Gloria Nakiyimba