Valorisation Center of Organic Urban Waste - Mali

The Valorisation Center of Organic Urban Waste in Sévaré, Mali, is collecting biodegradables from solid urban waste and producing biomass from it. The project aims to build climate resilience by strengthening the ability of households to collect and segregate their solid waste.

Fast facts:

35,000 people are benefitting from this activity;
So far, this activity has collected 153,548 kilograms of organic waste from 150 houses Sévaré and produced and sold six tonnes of compost;
Monthly, this activity collects 10 tonnes of urban waste and transforms it into two and a half tonnes of compost.

The problem

There is a large urban population in Mali, accounting for about 25% of the total population. It is possible that 50% of Malians will live in cities by 2025. This means waste management will remain a major issue, especially in small or medium sized cities that do not benefit from national or international attention.

The solution

In Mali, the daily waste production quantity is between 0.5 to 1 kilogram per capita. This activity trains local waste management companies and urban waste pickers to transform solid biodegradable urban waste into quality compost then sell it to local farmers at market price. The program focuses on adding value to a raw material and addressing their three main waste management challenges: offering jobs to people who need it, reducing environmental hazards and offering quality fertilizers to enrich soil and improve urban-gardening yields.

Helping the planet

This activity is reducing methane emissions by composting biodegradable “waste.” They are increasing soil carbon storage, which ultimately helps reduce vulnerability to drought.

Helping people

Composting increases incomes and improving people's health and the health of the environment. The informal sector recycles much of the inorganic waste, but lacks the knowledge and support to recycle their organic waste. The technology for composting is simple, and this activity provides compost and marketing training to empower urban waste pickers to improve their livelihoods.

Scaling Up

The trench composting process (developed by Yasagu) is a low-tech process. The only constraint, is that is requires a lot of water.