CoW to tackle landfill issues
Joins Namibia Zero Waste Network
In an effort to better waste management, the City of Windhoek (CoW) is embarking on a Zero Waste to Landfilling initiative.According to documents following a council meeting last Thursday, the CoW wants to join the Namibia Zero Waste Network (NZWN). Launched in 2020 by nine local authorities and chaired by the mayor of Tsumeb, the network has formed an advocacy group spearheading waste minimization to landfilling.
“Landfilling is an expensive exercise and no capital funding is available to construct future landfill sites for waste disposal. The modern trend is to do away with landfilling. This is achievable once all waste is recycled and other waste is incinerated, leading from waste to energy production,” the document reads.
The concept requires a number of adoption strategies to maximize resource recovery through recycling and composting, and to maximize the longevity of resources through reuse, repair, sharing and durable design.
After the two-year piloting phase, the network wants to create economic value with waste and will have to promote sorting waste at source, recycling and value addition. “The project has to be linked to the youth,” according to the council document and this will be done through advocacy and education that is driven by the youth, City and consultants.
The National Waste Management Strategy of 2018 and the CoW’s Integrated Waste Management Plan for 2022 to 2027 envision a total waste reduction strategy in an effort to manage solid waste. Through grant funding from the European Union in partnership with the City of Bremen, it was proposed that the CoW engages in stronger recycling efforts supported by the Zero Waste to Landfill concept.