Springboard for circular economy: Organic waste management project for Busumbala market

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By ALIMATOU S. BAJINKA

The Mbolo Association has on Tuesday, May 24, 2022, launched an organic waste management project at Busumbala community market in the West Coast Region.

The project is said to be another phase geared towards promoting circular economy, which is a model of production and consumption that involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible.

It is a system in which the life cycle of products is extended.

This pilot project is said to be working towards a sustainable municipal waste management for the metropolitan area between the Banjul City Council (BCC), Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC), and Brikama Area Council (BAC) respectively.

Speaking at the ceremony held at Busumbala market, Mr. Lamin A. Sonko, the project assistant underscored the importance of the project to the local vendors.

He said the contribution of women towards the project is to keep the market clean and save the environment for the future generations.

“All the vendors in the market would be provided with a 10-litre dustbin. The dustbins would be given to women to dispose the waste materials help keep the market clean and control waste,” Lamin Sonko said.

Explaining the contribution of women towards global warming, the project assistant advised them to separate the wastes that are taken to the dumpsite to be treated as manure for the gardens.

He added that the waste collected from the vendors would return to them in the form of farm produce.

“So in separating the waste they are helping the world and future generation,” he asserted.

He said the waste would be turned into compost and given to the local gardeners to be used in their beds for a great produce that would then come back to the market.

In other to keep the project alive and to be sure that vendors are properly disposing their waste, Mr. Sonko said they would visit the market for monitor.

He said the project started at Tujereng and it was called the “Tujereng Jambando”.

Meanwhile, the project is aimed at promoting circular economy in The Gambia by controlling waste and collecting all the organic materials from the markets to be later transported to the gardens to be treated as a compose manure.

Circular economy minimises waste and when a product gets to the end of its life, its materials are retained within the economy wherever possible.

The products can be efficiently used repeatedly and ensuring further value.