SENEGAL – Sandiara-based manufacturing company Hercules has finalized the construction of an oil and tire recycling plant located at the Sandiara Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Senegal.
The project transforms motor oil and tires into automotive lubricants and carbon black powder by using state-of-the-art technology.
The company’s Sandiara facility houses three plants: a lubricant mixing unit with a capacity of three million tonnes per year; a plant transforming tires into carbon black powder; and an aluminum alloy plant with a capacity of 10,000 metric tonnes per year.
“We are cleaning the country,” commented Manoj Solanki, founder of Hercules. “I noticed that freight had gotten too [expensive] before Covid, and Senegal didn’t have its lubricant manufacturing industry. I saw the potential to establish one here and also supply neighboring countries.”
Senegal’s strategic position, stable governance, and efforts by the current Mayor of Sandiara, Serigne Gueye Diop to develop Senegal’s domestic market also influenced the decision.
“The purpose of the SEZ is to produce more innovative and sustainable Senegalese products to balance the trade deficit,” stated Major Diop in an interview with ECP. “We are concentrating our efforts on heavy industry and the energy sector.”
However, Hercules’ ambitions extend beyond Senegal’s borders. The company hopes to establish Senegal as a base for exporting to neighboring countries.
“We’re looking into lubricant sales to countries like Burkina Faso, Mali and The Gambia. In the coming years, we will open showrooms and expand our presence in the region,” said Solanki.
Authorities set up 29 solid waste collection points
Elsewhere, Senegalese authorities have announced an investment to install 29 waste collection points in Dakar, in response to the growing insalubrity in the streets of the Senegalese capital.
The authorities want to move from words to deeds in the field of sanitation. The Promoged project to promote the integrated management and economy of solid waste is announcing the delivery of 29 solid waste collection points in Dakar by the end of August 2023.
The sites, which will be set up in a number of neighborhoods plagued by insalubrity, will make it easier to transport household waste to the dedicated treatment centers.
“All that remains is some finishing work. Each facility will bear a name that reflects the history and reality of the beneficiary area, and will generate three jobs, particularly for young people,” promises Ibrahima Diagne, Director of Promoged.
According to him, 34 other collection points will be delivered from September 2023, bringing the total number of sites in this first phase to 63.
The Senegalese government is investing 70 million CFA francs (€1.1 million) in the construction of “more than 250 standardized collection points in seven regions”.
According to official figures, Senegal generates 7,000 tonnes of waste every day. These local facilities aim to encourage people to adopt better waste management practices, since food waste and sewage sludge that is thrown away end up polluting their environment.
This is just one of many projects in the land of Teranga, where the government launched the Brigade de Proximité de la Propreté (BIPRO) in the first half of this year.
This initiative, implemented by the Société nationale de gestion intégrée des déchets (Sonaged), is intended to deploy 140 young people, 10 tricycles and 10 motor scooters “to transport the collected rubbish to the designated storage points”, according to the state-owned company.
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