Hamza Ogwaro, who earns from waste returns from dumping garbage at the composite site using his cart. PHOTO/FELIX WAROM OKELLO.
As the pace of urbanisation grows, the lives of the rich and the poor are irrefutably linked to waste, regardless of their income, culture and place of abode. A high urban population means more waste is generated from homes, offices and markets. After the Kiteezi disaster, waste management has become a challenge to cities and town councils. The few recycling facilities are offering employment to a growing number of people who are finding ‘gold’ in waste, as Felix Warom Okello writes.
Janet Baria’s day starts at around 6:30 am, when she wakes her children and makes breakfast, before sending them off to school on a bodaboda motorcycle. At 7.30 am, she sets off to work at the Composite Waste Recycling Plant in Ewuata in Vurra sub-county, Arua district, where she sorts garbage.
Before getting the ‘dirty’ job, her life was a continual struggle to survive.
“I dropped out of school in Senior Three and got married. Previously, before I got this job, I was unemployed, but now, with my monthly salary of Shs100,000, I can help my husband put food on the table and contribute to my daughters’ school fees,” Baria says.
To boost her earnings, the 36-year-old woman also collects plastic bottles off the streets and drainages, which she sells. She earns about Shs300,000 a month from this side job.
“I took a risk when I decided to work for the Compost Plant because this kind of work is despised in my community. People do not want to sit or stand near someone who is dirty and smells. However, I do not mind the stench from the garbage because I need the job,” she adds.”
The recycling plant was established in 2011 with funding from the World Bank through the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA).
Some of the women who earn from wastes at their workplace of the 'dirty job' in Arua. PHOTO/FELIX WAROM OKELLO.
Baria is one of 13 women and two men employed at the plant. They make sure the residents in Arua district live in a clean environment. She has worked at the plant for 10 years now.
Working with garbage
The Composite Plant is a beehive of activity, with garbage trucks and tricycles loaded with sacks of waste driving in to offload their burden. The stench of rotting garbage hits the nostrils from a mile away.
The women sort the waste, which includes plastics, metals and polythene bags. Zaitun Atimango, who started working at the plant in 2013, says poverty drove her into accepting the job.
“I used to have a small business like selling groundnuts by the roadside. But I thought, ‘How will I pay my children’s school fees, feed them, and pay their medical bills with these meagre earnings?’ That is why I came to work here, although people who see us think we are mad,” says the 48-year-old.
The sorted garbage is then recycled as manure, with several farmers flocking to the plant to buy it to boost the productivity of their gardens. Farmers like Denis Ambe from Oluko village in Ayivu East Division, says it is now easier to find manure in one place, unlike in the past.
“I bought five sacks of manure which have helped my crops to grow well. The manure is organic, which cuts down on the expense of buying fertiliser and makes it easier for us to find a market for our farm produce,” he says.
Manure contains organic matter, which helps to improve soil structure by increasing its water-holding capacity, aeration, and drainage. This can be especially beneficial for sandy or clay soils that have poor structure.
Workers sort garbage as they prepare to generate manure sold to farmers in Arua City. PHOTO/FELIX WAROM OKELLO.
To limit the workers’ exposure to health hazards in the recycling plant, the workers only work for six hours. However, they occasionally suffer injuries in their shoulders, hands, knees, fingers and backs.
Recycling workers face exposure to harmful chemical and biological substances since, in most cases, the garbage is not separated. The risks come from used hypodermic needles, broken glass, household chemicals, rotting animals such as cats and dogs, rotting food, and used diapers.
Other dangers come from dust and airborne contaminants that can have long-term effects on the workers’ respiratory systems. The dust from the waste and recyclable materials may contain micro-particles of plastics, glass, asbestos, and other irritants.
While some workers are employed at the plant, there are several private contractors and non-contractors like Hamza Ogwaro who collect garbage from homes and transport it to the recycling plant.
“I always tell the residents I collect garbage from to sort it depending on its toxicity and pack it in different bags. However, sometimes I find toxic waste wrapped in polythene bags,” says the 30-year-old.
Ogwaro earns about Shs350,000 from his job, which money he uses to sustain his family of three children.
Godfrey Onyuthfua, the manager of the Composite Site Manager, confirms that efforts are underway to purchase more protective gear for the workers.
“The plan is to increase the number of workers and also increase the salary they receive to motivate them to ensure that the garbage is well managed. To prevent workplace hazards, we control the temperature and moisture content of the waste because if it is not well managed, it can be dangerous to health and to the environment,” he says.
According to Onyuthfua, the plant receives 50 tonnes of garbage daily. This is about 40 percent of the garbage collected within Arua City.
Garbage management in Arua City
Arua City is facing a garbage management crisis like never before due to the increasing population. From Ayivu West to Ayivu East divisions, the effects of unmanaged wastes are evident, with River Enyau turning into a frothing mess due to the fact that families now dispose their waste there.
Cornelius Jobile, the deputy city clerk, Mr Cornelius Jobile, confirms that the city is making plans to improve the working conditions at the recycling plant.
“Those women sort the garbage because the people who generate that garbage do not have the time to sort in the homes, offices, and markets. We are in the process of protective gear for them because their health is paramount,” he says.
Arua Deputy City Clerk Cornelius Jobile speaks during an interview with Monitor. PHOTO/FELIX WAROM OKELLO.
The City Council runs the Compost Site on a budget Shs78 million while Shs58 million goes towards maintaining the garbage trucks and skips. The loading, sweeping and fueling is funded by the Central, Ayivu East, and West Divisions.
The City has plans to expand the Composite Plant to 15 acres because the current seven acre area is now too small to process the garbage collected in the area. Due to the population growth, the City Council needs additional garbage skips, graders, trucks and manpower to handle the garbage collection.
As a result of low manpower and equipment, management of garbage is becoming difficult especially at the market areas. This is because the trucks take a long time to reach the points where garbage has been piled for collection.
Innovations from waste
Every person’s trash can be useful to another. Rose Clara has found solace in the opportunity to recycle waste into a useful resource by making pavers and ventilators to boost her income.
“When I started this initiative last year, the members of the community were cagey about the raw materials. But now, some of them collect bottles and other plastics to sell to me. We buy a kilogram of plastic at Shs500,” she says.
Rose Clara with other youths making pavers out of waste in Arua City. PHOTO/FELIX WAROM OKELLO.
Samples of pavers made out of waste by Rose Clara in Arua City. PHOTO/FELIX WAROM OKELLO.
Although she received some start-up capital from RICE-West Nile and Arua City, the innovator says she needs more funds to grow her business.
“Currently, we have over 200 pavers waiting to be certified by Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) so that we can move into full-scale production. We sell each paver at Shs1,500 on the market. We need equipment that controls the amount of smoke emitted to protect our health and that of the community,” she adds.
Besides improving the health and sanitation situation of an area, proper management of waste has the added advantage of mitigating the effects of climate change. This is because waste generates greenhouse gasses such as carbon dioxide and methane, which contribute to climate change.
When decomposing of waste is controlled, the release of methane into the environment is minimised. Managing waste also removes the need for open burning of rubbish in the community.
