Friday, March 29, 2024

PF Government invite Chinese to generate power from garbage

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A HEAP of uncollected garbage behind a shopping mall in Choma
File:A heap of uncollected garbage behind a shopping mall in Choma

The PF government has invited a delegation of Chinese investors to carry out feasibility studies and explore possibilities of generating electricity from garbage in Zambia.

Lusaka province minister Japhen Mwakalombe said that the Chinese were also ready to invest in power generation from garbage once they were satisfied with the business environment in Zambia.

“We are expecting a delegation from China who want to make use of the garbage that we consider to be filth. There is a lot of uncollected garbage especially in Lusaka that can be used into something valuable. So the Chinese are ready to invest into power generation from garbage and they have the experience in that business,” he said.

Mr Mwakalombe bemoaned the amount of uncollected garbage in Lusaka and noted that people were looking at garbage as filth but that it had the potential to be utilised.

He explained that garbage could be used to generate power or be recycled into plastic and that a delegation from China was expected in the country to explore possibilities of investing in garbage.

He further disclosed that the Chinese had invested extensively in garbage and that they had the experience to utilise it into something useful.

During the provincial ministers’ tour to China, Mr Mwakalombe had the opportunity to see how garbage was processed into useful substances, and said that most cities in China were very clean and without garbage because it was something very valuable.

“When we visited China, I had the opportunity to visit plants where our friends are utilising waste. They are generating power from waste and recycling it to plastic. People are making a living from it and employment has been created. So if we do the same in Zambia, it would be one solution to even make sure our towns are clean,” he said.

Mr Mwakalombe revealed that some people in China were making a living out of supplying waste to companies that processed it into valuable substances.

He pointed out that Zambians too could make a living out of supplying garbage and that the cities would be kept clean.

[Daily Nation]

31 COMMENTS

  1. faki Pi eF faki Chayiniz you guys are just failures. how man pronouncements have you had? you have just failed to keep Zambia clean

    • We ‘ve been doing that in Aussie for many years. That business actually has potential to open up many industries in order to support it. So you are not talking about power generation only. That’s were out expertise come only if you are serious with what you talking about.

    • What is the purpose of our universities if they can’t do research and come up with ways to generate energy from garbage ,why must we always run to foreigners? UNZA should be leading the way in Zambian innovations.eg Designing materials for road construction according to our conditions.Thats why those chinese roads are pothole filled after rains.We need things according to our environment. Zambinas need to stop look outward and start looking within.It will take time but it will be very beneficial for years to come.

    • @HH Techilema,
      Why have you not brought this idea to Zambia, if you gained expertise while in Aussie? In stead you just are vocal here on LT and vehemently defending PF

    • There is a unit at UNZA called the TDAU. I am sure they have blueprints on a lot of things that we are stuffing people into airplanes to go and learn in China. Also, I am not sure the Chinese themselves would want you to go and invest in that business but I am sure they would ask for technical assistance and technology so they can do it themselves. We will soon have Chinese garbage collectors on our stoep no doubt. That said, anything to clean the city is welcome, laziness and incompetence notwithstanding.

    • The possibility of generating electricity from garbage should not be an excuse for leaving mountains of trash all across the Zambian cities uncollected. You still need to come up with a way to clean up the cities, and if you want the Chinese to start generating electricity from garbage, they should retrieve the garbage from the garbage dumps, after it has been collected from the cities. Keeping Zambia clean is part of your responsibility as a government. It’s funny that after you visit some clean countries across the world, you don’t seem to learn anything. Maybe Lungu’s frequent trips outside the country is because he’s trying to run away from the garbage heaps that’re clogging up Lusaka. Clean up the cities. Cleaning up the country has many benefits, including cutting down on…

    • (Continued)… healthcare costs, prevention of deadly diseases, promotion of tourism, etc. The first thing visitors to your country notice when they come in as tourists, is how clean or how dirty it is. If the country is clean, they’ll want to stay longer and come back again. They’ll also encourage others to visit the country. If it’s dirty they won’t stay long, will discourage others from visiting and will vow never to visit the country again. And that affects the country’s image and finances. Please clean up the country — you lazy lot.

  2. It’s sad that you guys are coming to your senses when things ar worse for this country,I remember one bringing the same idea some time back but instead you rejected the idea.now Chinese pipo are coming first to check the environment of doing business when they satify it poor then mwanyela kwateni.you like tidyemo too much.

  3. Wen UPND talked about generating power from Gabbage we said they were just dreaming. Now that its PF then it’s possible. Does it mean Hh and his party are too ahead of many zambians in thinking

  4. The problem is Mwakalombe thinks the Chinese will just go to rubbish heaps and collect it the way it is. First begin by teaching people the importance of separating waste (paper, plastic, organic, glass, metal).

    • Banana you are thinking watched minister has not said. Mwakalombe is doing the correct thing for Zambia. Please be positive for ounce.

  5. For this to become viable in Zambia, people would need to change habits and become orderly in the manner they throw garbage away in the first place. Now, that’s a big ask for Zambians in general. At the moment, the habit is chiposepose fye. That makes it more difficult to come up with a viable business model on garbage collection. It would mean extra manpower and equipment to physically rake and sweep garbage into heaps, and then separate it into usable and no-usable, before we talk about collection. That’s a tall order that will need to be looked at carefully in the feasibility study, or else we will end up with ‘GARBAGE SHEDDING’.

  6. If you start paying people for garbage, you’ll see how clean our cities will be. I agree that we need to start recycling waste. I would love to start a compost business where I would collect waste fruit and vegetables from markets and turn them into compost for plants. Very simple and straight forward business.

  7. Can people be this dirty and remain Godly? Whatever happened to the saying of cleanliness and Godliness. This looks like a serious moral and mental problem that needs urgent attention!

  8. Now that trip to bribe those ministers with a free workshop and snacks in China is starting to pay off dividends for the smart Chines…do you really need them for this even the municipal council can do this and sell the energy to ZESCO

  9. I am just from town center to buy farming in puts. All farmers shops are congested with people trying to buy inputs, implements, feeds that I failed to get somethings I wanted to buy. But here are people on LT seemingly consumed by cheap politics wasting time criticizing everything.

  10. I tend to side with those who talk sustained orderliness first in the way garbage is handled in line with a cleaner environment in Zambia. The pathetic failure arising from not assigning professionalism to waste management. I recall when environment (Climate change) first surfaced as an issue the world over Zambia had only one person with such expertise who government had to fish out and burden with a mammoth task of professionalizing a ministry reactively created! Now a bunch of ministers visit China and lo and behold an eye opener to getting rid and utilization of the mountains of unkempt garbage and job creation! No, I disagree Mr Mwakalombe that the solution will come from inviting the Chinese without attending to the manner waste, its disposal and, environmental cleanliness are first…

  11. contd….. addressed at household level. The long drawn battle on minimum requirement for anyone vying for political leadership has had its toll for loss of national advancement as one can argue that what Mwakalombe is trying to sell is something new! Whose policies led to the death of Zambezi Paper Mills that were in recycling paper? There was also a company recycling plastic on the Copperbelt that used to buy plastic waste from those who cared to collect it and turned it into a variety of products another produced mattresses! Anyway if you were not there its hard to believe Zambia was already on track and since you can’t read what is on the shelves you look through “baby eyes” drawing the country backwards!

    I am interested in knowing how much garbage to power generated ratios…

  12. This is a brilliant idea for Zambia,,these Chinese companies should be partnering with local companies in implementing such initiatives..As an Environmental Engineer, I would say the process involved is merely burning of combustible solid waste, heat produce is used to heat water into super heated steam to 400 oC and 40bar,,this steam is used to turn turbines which generate electricity at 40% efficiency…my worry is the massive air pollution that is associated with this process!!

    • Where do you get the energy to burn the garbage? It is not like to put a bit of paraffin and light the matches. You need furnaces and huge amount of electricity which is in short supply. Zambia is now bonkers!

    • as far as i know, all what the furnace needs is combustible municipal solid waste (of low moisture content) and air for combustion to take place,,,also noting that conversion of steam to super-heated steam may need some auxiliary fuel…. and being an electricity generation installation,,, it can used its own power for all its energy requirements,,,, near by communities could also benefit of hot water supply to reduce house energy consumption for warm water…(if you need more detailed and technical explanations, feel free to email me directly on [email protected]!

  13. ZAMBIANS ARE INTELLIGENT ENOUGH TO DO THE SAME BUT GOVERNMENT PREFERS TO SPONSOR FOREIGNERS TO TAKE UP THE CHALLENGE AND SIPHON MONEY OUT OF THE COUNTRY. SAD!

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