Zimbabwe: Reaping the Rewards of Recycling in Harare, Zimbabwe

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“It’s not waste until you waste it!” reads the sign in front of the towering water tanks in the community of Stoneridge on the outskirts of Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare. Here, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has developed a system that not only recycles food waste but also wastewater, which has had a meaningful impact on people’s health.

Working with communities in Harare to identify the medical and environmental challenges they face, MSF saw an opportunity to tackle two big issues in Stoneridge. First was how to deal with biodegradable waste, like food scraps, which can fill up dump sites and water pipes quickly and is expensive to remove. The second was how to recycle wastewater to prevent groundwater contamination and the spread of waterborne diseases like typhoid and cholera.

For the recycling of bio-waste, the solution was elegantly simple. MSF teams installed composters and supplied the earthworms needed to transform that waste into bio fertiliser, called vermicompost. This is the result of the natural digestion and excretion process of earthworms. So, while bio-waste is reduced, organic fertiliser is produced, which can be used for household food gardens or sold for extra income.

To recycle wastewater, we replaced old septic tanks with decongesters which separate grey water and black water . This wastewater then passes through the decongestor and is then recycled via the wastewater station. The recycled wastewater is then chlorinated and reused for watering gardens and for flushing toilets.

North of the green oasis of Stoneridge lies Mbare, one of the most densely populated areas of Harare, where trash and poor solid waste management practices are a constant health risk. “Mismanaged waste or garbage can clog stormwater drains and sewer lines, resulting in stagnant water bodies and flooding. This creates unsanitary conditions which can lead to diarrhoeal outbreaks like cholera and typhoid,” explains MSF project coordinator, Danish Malik.

 

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