Trashpays in Affiliation with UN-Habitat on Waste Wise Cities
TECHDIGEST – Solid waste management as always been a concern to developing and developed societies. Africa’s urban cities continue to suffer from poor management of waste generated from households, marketplaces, businesses and institutions, who’s waste are dispose incriminatory in drains, dump sites and open spaces. These practices causes flooding, air, land and water pollution, diseases such as respiratory and skin infection also manifest due to poor sanitation and hygiene, and poor physical environment.
Globally, over 3 billion people lack access to controlled waste disposal facilities according to (UN-Habitat, 2021). It was also stated that 2 billion tonnes of solid waste is generated by cities and communities in 2016, and by 2050 this ratio would double. Deliberate efforts is been made by the government of developed societies to tackle these incidences. The UN-Habitat made it mandatory for both developed and developing countries to key into the programs of reducing waste and promoting circular economy that mitigate and control waste generation.
Waste Wise Cities is one of the conceptual framework developed by UN-Habitat to tackle poor waste management in urban cities with introduction of 12 key principles of engagement. These principles includes understanding the quantity and type of waste generated, improving collection and transportation of these waste, ensuring environmentally safe disposal of such waste, the adoption of the 5Rs that consists of Rethink, Refuse, Reduce, Reuse and Recycling.
Other principles involves the empowering of waste stakeholders, establishing a better working condition for waste operators whether in formal or informal employment, exploration and implementation of innovative technology alternatives, making long-term urban strategic plans that concerns waste, designing incentives and promoting circular economy, re-orientation of individuals through public education, civil engagement and demonstration, and finally achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Trashpays services limited since inception in 2019 has made the environment a core of our goal. The company was not just formed to make profit, but to impact positively on the environment and improve human development. The introduction of Waste Wise Cities vindicated the purpose of our existence. Trashpays can proudly say it has be meeting all set key principles of the waste wise cities model. Even before affiliation with this program, Trashpays mandate as been juxtaposing these principles, trying to achieve good physical environment and improving quality of life of urban dwellers through creating avenues from proper strategic waste management templates.
In addressing the set principles, the company has been able to identify various waste items generated from households, commercial areas and industrials zones. Items such as plastic, nylon bags, aluminum cans, carton papers and glass bottles dominance these waste materials from households. In most cases these items contribute to rising cases of flooding, and pollutions on land and in water at the biosphere, facilitating climate change and environmental degradation.
Trashpays has been able to develop bin cages that helps to sort out different waste items from households, office spaces and commercial complexes. This process helps to separate waste items neatly and reduce the amount of unnecessary contamination of these items. The company also try to provide a transportation means that helps to transport these items to recycle plants or collection points, through our special Trashpays tricycles, driven by our agents.
This intervention helps to address the next key principle that emphases on safe environmental waste disposal.
The 5Rs concept adopted by UN-Habitat on Rethinking of what waste could be, Refusing to use some items that can constitute waste, Reducing the amount of waste material in the environment through multi-purpose usage, Reusing of items or materials for other utilities and Recycling of items or materials to form another raw material as always been promoted by Trashpays. Our platform provides a hub where this process can be achieved. In recent times, many trash traders and recyclers connect directly using our platform, creating a one-stop shop for practitioners.
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In term of empowerment, Trashpays services have created a conducive online and offline platform for waste traders. Our online platform create an incentive for trash dealers through a point system that rewards in cash to household traders and a selling point for merchant of the business to recyclers and industries that buys recycled raw materials. We also provide a platform for upcycled products, which have been transformed into creative pieces or innovations. Our last expo displayed some of the products gotten from plastic and rubber re-used waste items.
Trashpays has established a working model on formalizing waste trading. Our Trashpays Agent initiative provides decent opportunities for new and already existing waste dealers that go around the communities to collect different waste items. The company tries to end hunger and create decent job through the rebranding of waste collection. The agents are exposed to our information communication technology, with each agent working directly with us, given a tab for pickups and tricycle for easy transportation of sorted items such as plastic bottles, cans, carton papers and metal scarps. With formal identification of waste collectors, Trashpays brands their agents with company’s logo shirts, caps and written materials.
The adoption of technology into waste management has made evacuation of trash in our urban communities easier. In Germany for instance, households and individuals sort their trash items, and carry them to a well installed machine that collect these sorted items and pay them for it. In Sub-Saharan Africa, our advancement is limited. What Trashpays is trying to achieve is to make sure people become aware of their duties toward clean environment. The company tries to combine civil duty with empowerment, we believe our technology with great support would improve participation through our reward system. Creating more environmental cautious urban dwellers that will gain empowerment through trading in trash.
The eighth key principle of the waste wise cities emphasis on making long-term urban strategic plans on waste management.
Trashpays services intense to create a full waste management mechanism that would involve all factor of production in the business. Moving forward, we intend to establish physical sustainable recycle city that would demonstrate clean green energy, sustainable homes that would be built from recycled materials and commercial layout that would trade in processed waste materials. The long-term plan for Trashpays will engage all tiers of government, with international partnership engagement. Our urban strategic plans also promote the circular economy model adopted by most developed countries today. We at Trashpays will continue to create opportunities that will preserve our earth by using already existing materials to generate satisfaction.
Trashpays since inception has always engaged in public relations. We noticed our urban cities pay little attention to sanitation and hygiene. Majority of our settlements engage in poor waste disposal practice, estates and communities puts all domestic trash together, reducing the ability to separate clean waste from households.
Trashpays have started partnership with developers of modern luxurious homes to inform facility mangers to engage in trash sorting and separation. In order to have waste agents collecting sorted items that can be taking directly to holding yards and recycling plants. Also the company engage in workshops and training, that teaches young people technical skills on transforming waste items into upcycled products. In 2021, our business partnered with Non-Governmental Organisation (NGOs) and Government agencies to educate urban dwellers on livelihood skills that can be gotten directly from trading in trash, which can help solve problem of unemployment and improve their productivity toward economy development.
With the opportunity Trashpays gets from the affilliation with UN-Habitats, we believe the platform would create an avenue for growth in our social network and innovation. We would be able to look at world best practices to build on our solution. Our mandate moving forward is to touch more lives through this partnership and tell our story to the rest of the world on the step young Africans are making to preserve the biosphere and combat climate change. Our progress would also be updated on the website of the UN-Habitats to serve as an advocacy channel for more activists of environmental sustainability and management.
United Nations General Assembly that comprises of almost all nations in the world, have been keen on United Nation Development Programme’s (UNDP) 17 Sustainable Development Goals formulated in 2015. Most projects and intervention has been channeled to this goals. Trashpays have been cautious of these goals and tries to use waste management to solve more than 10 Sustainable Development Goals. Major attention is given to Goal 1- No Poverty, Goal 2- Zero Hunger, Goal 3- Good Health and Well -Being, Goal 6- Clean Water and Sanitation, Goal 8- Decent Work and Economic Growth, Goal 9- Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, Goal 11 to 15 that emphases on Sustainable Cities and Communities, Responsible Consumption and Production, Climate Action, Life Below Water and Life on Land. Finally the last set goal is on Partnerships, which Trashpays and UN-Habitat has formed progressive front in attaining these fit.
