DAGL launches one-year awareness campaign on waste management

TOGO – The Greater Lomé Autonomous District (DAGL) is running a one-year awareness campaign on waste management in Togo.

Launched on August 23, the project ends next year, in July. It is connected to phase 3 of the Lomé Urban Environment Project (PEUL III).

The project has been backed by the French Development Agency, AFD with CFA100 million (US$165k

The awareness campaign aims to urge the people of the Greater Lomé region to adopt environmentally friendly behaviors.

Among others, the campaign will focus on better communication on DAGL’s major activities to improve solid waste management in urban areas.

It will also promote best practices and behavioral change among the capital’s population. The approach will also consider the improvement of urban hygiene, thanks to the environmental and social security of the former Agoè-Nyivé landfill site.

Under the campaign, the DAGL’s Secretariat plans for TV and radio broadcasts, video projection campaigns, publications in the print and online media, and guided tours of the Aképé landfill site.

Targeting Neighborhood Development Committees (CDQ), there will also be workshops enhancing good waste management practices.

Smart bins to stop illegal landfills in Lomé

In another development, Togolese waste management company Eco Trash has launched smart bins made from old refrigerators to collect household waste.

According to the company, the choice to use old refrigerators is because most trash bin in the market are made of plastic that deteriorates quickly and becomes garbage.

The company in collaboration with Vega Recycling has so far donated over 100 smart bins in Lomé to help residents recycle their waste.

Once collected, the waste is taken to Vega Recycling center where sorting is done and plastic waste is transformed into pellets that serve as raw materials for new plastic objects.

According to Vega Recycling, 50 tonnes of plastic are collected and sorted monthly in the city of Lomé.

In Togo, urbanization and changes in consumption patterns have led to an increase in waste production, with Lomé producing 305,000 tonnes annually, of which 89428 tonnes are collected and buried, giving a collection rate of 29.29%, according to a recent report.

The country has been taking steps to address to rising concerns of waste that are discarded in landfills, posing a threat to human health.

In January, three Togolese communes of Golfe 7, Golfe 5 and Agoè Nyivé 3 received six tricycles from the Lomé-based organization Science and Technology for Sustainable Development (Stadd) to facilitate waste collection in the city.

The tricycles have been financed by the West African Development Bank (BOAD), to facilitate the waste collection service in the Togolese capital of 1.8 million people.

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