Zero-Waste standard; if achievable can enhance economic beneffits in Kwara state.
Sa'ad Ayuba Dan-Musa
danmusa123@yahoo.com
Zero Waste is the human efforts to reduce Solid Waste generation, waste to nothing, or as close to nothing as possible, by minimizing excess consumption and maximizing the recovery of Solid Wastes through Recycling and Composting..
As It refers to throwing away as little as possible which can be categorised into three;
1. Minimizing consumption, it's an idea expected from households and Communities on food waste to avoid throwing excess into landfills, water and air.
The idea is to Plan meals by Starting a routine: Every Sunday sit down with your family, partner, (whoever!) and plan meals for the week,
eat your leftovers and
donate food that might turn to waste to needy so as to avoid been thrown to water and landfills.
Food and other agricultural products are recovered or redirected for human consumption, animal feed, industrial uses, or environmental benefits.
The management of food waste process includes the collection of edible food scraps and other food-related wastes from homes, restaurants, institutions, and businesses which can be diverted into a variety of uses including composting materials for agriculture and gardening purposes.
2. Reuse and Repurpose Waste; after Waste reduction, the Reuse is another or second preferred practice of using a material over and over again in its current form.
A lot of people in Ilorin keep used materials untouched for years, it could be reused as donation to charity Homes and people around us.
Every household can Repurpose glass, plastic and cardboard containers to give them another life; a typical example are the Scavengers who come around you seeking for condemned materials to Repurpose them, to achieve Zero-Waste in Kwara state, the ideology repurposing should become a tradition.
Another local pattern to Repurpose is to Convert old clothing, towels or sheets into cleaning rags/cloths until it reaches a stage such material can't be used again.
3. Recycling; recycling is the process of collecting and processing materials (that would otherwise be thrown away as trash) and remanufacturing them into new products, it is the third preferred pattern to achieve Zero Waste in the State.
The recycling can be categorised into Mechanical, Energy and Chemical Recycling while the preferred one needed to achieve complete Zero Waste Kwara state is ENERGY RECYCLING.
Energy Recycling is simply known as Waste-to-energy (WtE) or energy-from-waste (EfW) which is the process of generating energy in the form of electricity and/or heat from the primary treatment of waste, or the processing of waste into a fuel source. Waste to Energy is a form of energy recovery.
The Energy Recycling consists of converting Wastes into both thermal and electric energy by leveraging,
through incineration, the heat power released and steam turbine to produce Electricity, fuel and other raw materials to produce other products.
The Energy Recycling requires heavy investment and government intervention to produce 440MW of electricity per day and capable of disposing 800 tons of Waste per day.
With the coming of Chinese Firm to set up the Energy Recycling Plant/Industry in Ilorin state capital, the citizens in the 16 local governments should be ready to sell their waste instead of indiscriminate disposal on the street and drainage, thereby meeting up aims of Zero-Waste through the international standards.
*Economic benefits*
Protecting eco-system and wildlife;
Reducing the demand for raw materials; Saving Energy;
Cutting Climate-Changing Carbon Emissions;
Cheaper than Waste Collection and Disposal;
Tackles Youth Unemployment
Reduces diseases from indiscriminate waste disposal.
End.
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