Waste Generation
Today, every household, school, office, firm, or industry generates some form of waste or another, and this has increased dramatically over the last 50 years. Waste management, on the other hand, has received little attention over time, and this is a ticking time bomb.
Nigeria generates 43.2 million tonnes of waste per year, according to the World Bank. Nigeria is expected to generate approximately 72.46 million tonnes by 2025 due to rapid population growth.
We cannot live without waste because our daily activities generate it; therefore, effective waste management has become a sacrosanct.
Waste Management
We should be more concerned with waste management and environmental sustainability than we should with alien invasion. A healthy and sustainable environment requires proper waste management. We can start the art and act of waste management by learning about the three R’s of waste management: reduce, reuse, and recycle.
We can drastically reduce the amount of waste dumped indiscriminately in landfills, streets, and water bodies if we use these methods effectively. In fact, having an effective waste management system can lead to the availability of valuable materials for reuse and recycling.
Smart Mobile Bins
The Smart Mobile Bins, also known as SMB, are an Ecocykle Limited initiative designed to address waste management challenges faced by the most vulnerable and low-income communities, which lack basic amenities to manage the waste they generate.
The idea behind these SMBs is to develop a locally acceptable waste management solution capable of addressing the problem of indiscriminate waste disposal in communities that lack effective waste management systems as well as inaccessible road networks that impede the provision of waste management services.
These SMBs are built in the shape of a cart with two wheels and are properly covered with metal sheets. They have two openings, one at the top for waste collection and the other in front of the cart for waste drop off. Each SMB is intended to serve approximately 50 households per day. These SMBs can also transport about 50kg of garbage per trip.
Benefits of SMBs
The SMBs are environmentally friendly because the bodies are fully covered, addressing the problem of air pollution and garbage water drop off that is commonly experienced during waste transportation from point of collection to point of disposal. Workers who push and operate these SMBs across neighborhood communities are trained and properly equipped with Personally Protective Equipment (PPE) to strengthen safety and personal hygiene while assisting with waste management challenges in operating communities.
These SMBs can also assist in the retrieval of useful waste for reuse and recycling after being collected from households, and can be sold to nearby recycling companies for further processing, thus contributing to the mainstreaming of the circular economy.
The social benefit of these SMBs cannot be overstated; they are intended to refine and improve on the activities of the informal waste sector.
We are creating employment opportunities, improving public health, and strengthening environmental sustainability by training as many informal waste collectors as possible and deploying them with SMBs into these hard-to-reach communities with the mandate of providing waste management services.
Inventors and Funders
Ecocykle Limited is an impact driven social enterprise that promotes environmental sustainability, ecosystem restoration, circular economy and improved public health, and It is the inventor of the Smart Mobile Bins (SMBs).
We are grateful to IHS Tower and WeforGood International for being the SMB project’s seed funders.
Please contact us via WhatsApp: +2349038156557 or email: info@ecocykle.com for SMB sponsorship, partnerships, and other inquiries.
By
Joshua Imoikor
