Let’s turn waste into wealth: First Lady…urges communities to venture into green business

Tendai Gukutikwa, Mutare Bureau

FIRST Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa, who is patron of the environment, has urged communities in Manicaland Province to venture into green business and facilitate the creation of a green economy by recycling waste and converting it into feedstock for income-generating projects.

She said this at Nyamhuka Business Centre in Nyanga, where she was leading this month’s National Clean-Up Campaign, which ran under the theme “Growing the recycling industry for a sustainable economy by year 2030”.

In a speech read on her behalf by Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Deputy Minister Jennifer Mhlanga on Friday, Dr Mnangagwa said the theme is in line with the thrust of the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1), which underlines the importance of recycling initiatives.

“The focus for this month’s clean-up is on promoting recycling in our communities and creating green jobs in the process. Recycling is an important pillar for achieving Vision 2030. Let us create treasure from waste and turn waste into wealth through upholding the principles of producing, reusing and recycling our waste,” she said.

The sector, she said, is contributing immensely towards the reduction of waste management challenges in Manicaland and the country at large. The unique gathering, the First Lady said, coincides with the Africa Environment Day commemorations, which fall on 3 March every year.

“The Africa Environment Day was designated in 2002 by the African Union Council of Ministers in South Africa on the recognition of environmental challenges confronting the African continent and the need to find solutions for these challenges,” she said.

She challenged every Zimbabwean woman, herself included, to emulate the works of Mrs Wangari Mathai, a Kenyan woman who fought for the environment and is renowned globally for her work. Mrs Mathai contributed significantly to environmental conservation and sustainable development in Africa.

“I challenge you and myself to take a leaf from this noble woman, who represented Africa so well and made an impact across the globe. The time is now for women to champion environmental protection for the benefit of future generations,” said Dr Mnangagwa. 

She also applauded Manicaland for having a good number of community-based organisations collecting waste for recycling. 

She commended a local company, Tajik Company, for collecting 162 tonnes of waste monthly. The company is run by young women in Mutare. Addressing the same gathering, the company’s representative, Ms Jesca Njukuya, said Tejik Company is supporting youths and women to improve their livelihoods. 

“We go around buying waste and sell it afterwards for recycling. We use the money we generate to pay our employees and ourselves. We turned to waste picking because we realised that we will get income while also keeping our country clean. This is better than doing drugs, so please join us and stop being idle at home,” she said.

Addressing the same gathering and speaking on behalf of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Deputy Minister Barbra Rwodzi, the chief director in the same ministry, Professor Prosper Matondi, applauded Nyanga residents for keeping the tourist town clean.

“When I arrived, I was shocked to see that the town was very clean. I even asked the Environmental Management Agency guys on where we were supposed to clean because it showed that the people of Nyanga already know the importance of cleanliness. We had to search for places to clean and this is commendable. Dr Mnangagwa, what we want to acknowledge is that through your efforts and your work, we are beginning to see that the national clean-up exercise is actually getting into the people’s daily routine. 

“Thank you very much for this. We create waste and we should clean our environment to remove that waste. It is our responsibility to remove the dirt that we create because the country is ours. We are also saying that this dirt is not just dirt. It can give you money; take this opportunity and make money out of recycling. We declared that this year is a year of recycling waste and we want to see that in our communities. Young men and women should venture into this business because there is money in trash.”

Deputy Minister Rwodzi said Government plans to create a clean Zimbabwe and, at the same time, generate income from recycling waste. Community members thanked Amai Mnangagwa for the programme. Revai Nyatate of Nyamhuka suburb thanked the First Lady for her efforts, saying the clean-up campaign is promoting cleanliness in their community.

“We are very happy that our First Lady keeps remembering us with such programmes. She taught us that cleanliness is next to Godliness and we will forever be grateful. Now we know that malaria and various other diseases are caused by waste which is just lying around and not taken care off. From now on, we will not leave waste unattended. We also thank her for challenging us to recycle waste; we will do that and make sure that we make her proud.”