With the ever increasing urbanisation and industrialisation, rapid change in lifestyles, Uganda’s waste challenge has grown in leaps and bounds. On average there is about 2,500 tons of waste generated in Uganda on a daily basis with only about 10% of this waste disposed of in a safe manner.
Launched in Uganda, Geocycle aim is to provide a solution to waste management that leaves no residue. Under the Geocycle brand, the LafargeHolcim Group offers waste management services in over 50 countries around the world.
The arrangement will see Geocycle provide material used in Hima Cement’s kilns in the cement making process. Geocycle provides the entire waste management process from collection, transportation, segregation, auditing, as well as disposal in a process that does not require waste to be disposed-off in landfills.
According to Hima Cement CEO Daniel Pettersson, the Cement Industry has the highest level of carbon emission. The launch of this initiative will, therefore, enable the cement manufacturer to improve its energy efficiency by re-purposing other forms of waste and also contribute further to its objective to reduce its carbon footprint.
Speaking at the launch event today, Pettersson said, “ We believe in a future without waste and our dedicated experts work persistently toward this goal. We take the extra step to solve waste challenges for our customers and society as a whole. State-of-the-art technology, tailored processes and in-depth expertise enable us to provide sustainable, safe and reliable answers to society’s waste challenges.”
Geocycle contributes to the Lafargeholcim’s sustainability ambitions (the 2030 Plan) which target to use 80 million tons per year of resources from waste by 2030. 58% of fuel used in Hima Plant in Kasese is from agricultural waste.
The company is already engaging with Fort Portal Municipality which produces approximately 100 tons of waste per day and is in close proximity to the Hima plant in Kasese. Tinkasimiire revealed their strategy shall involve partnering with urban authorities to manage waste on their behalf. From there, they shall spread to other parts of the country including Kampala, where the waste generated per day is in the region of 800 tons.
“Many local authorities do not have enough capacity to collect and dispose of waste. Waste is certainly a big challenge. When uncollected, especially in urban centres, it causes flooding, contamination of water sources thus leading to diseases. NEMA welcomes the Geocycle initiative which aims to have zero-waste future,” he noted.
Globally, Geocycle preserves land equivalent to the size of 85 football fields annually, processes 14 million tons of waste materials worldwide and prevents greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to that produced by 250,000 cars. It also saves energy equivalent to that of heating 180,000 households by processing waste from municipal sources.
