Waste sorting research project underway |16 June 2016

Environmental engineers from Germany are conducting a waste characterisation project at the Providence landfill to know the composition of the landfill.

This research has been initiated by the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change with the aim of knowing what goes in the landfill and to find out what separation methods or waste sorting techniques that can be used in the future to help the disposition of waste in Seychelles especially due to the rapid increase of the amount of waste.

The main objectives of the project are to collect data on the amount and types of waste landing in the landfill; to define the waste fractions and purity of the delivered fractions; to compile a report on the analysis and provide recommendations on the way forward to the authority.

The Solid Waste Management Policy states that waste per capita rates are increasing on a yearly basis at a rate of 3% annually. Therefore, there is an urgent need for solid waste to be effectively collected and disposed respectively.

Actions are therefore needed to ensure that wastes are separated at the source so as to be consistent with the thematic area of waste management under the Seychelles Sustainable Development Strategy (SSDS 2012-2020) and build further on the solid waste master plan 2003-2010, outcome of the 9th EDF solid waste management programme and more recent policy formulations.

There are three experts working on this project and they are Hendrick Schaeter from the University of Darmstadt, with Daniel Stangkorski and Katherin Jager from the Jager biotech holdings.

A familiarisation visit was made by three staff of the University in Seychelles during the month of April this year. They had the opportunity to visit the Providence landfill and the Praslin landfill respectively and at the same time held discussion meetings with agencies.

Following the visit, the government then requested the university to provide support in proposed waste characterisation project.

Mr Schaeter said: “It’s very different to the German waste because we sort out the waste before it gets to the landfill as there are different bins in our households where we can sort out but here it is all mixed.”

He said for this research they will be sorting 0.5% of the waste coming in. They  are going through 300 tonnes of waste per day and when they are done sorting they we will weigh it to know percentage of the different types of waste.

The data collected during the sorting activities will be analysed and the findings will be presented to government for them to find the way forward relating to waste sorting and management of landfill in Seychelles.

The total cost of the project is €22,000 and the University of Darmstadt will be covering some of it.